12.02.2009 (Ausnahme: 17.15 Uhr)
Darwin´s cold shudder -the implications of eye evolution and the Cambrian explosion.
Prof. Dr. Andrew Parker,
The Natural History Museum, London
Suddenly, and for no obvious reason, the range and variety of animals erupted around 520 million years ago. This was during the Cambrian period, and it represents life's 'big bang' - a subject for which Darwin was unaware.
On a seemingly separate subject, but again one that troubled Darwin, the first animal to evolve vision was a Cambrian trilobite, around 521 million years ago. That trilobite had also evolved swimming capabilities and had become an active predator - in fact, the first active predator, with visual search capabilities. Its eyes and visual processing abilities had bestowed it a new level of sophistication. If the first eye is added to the geological timescale, the order of events becomes the introduction of vision, first, followed closely by the Cambrian explosion, second.
Maybe this is more than mere coincidence.
Ort
Hörsaal ZFMK, 1.OG
Zeit
Donnerstag, 17.15 Uhr
Kosten
Eintritt frei
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