Anomalocaris
<p>Dec 6, 2009 1:13 PM
 
large Cambrian arthropod ... one meter long;
look at those eyes!!  large complex eyes!
a predator.
 
So, did vision drive the Cambrian explosion? Dr Andrew Parker of the zoology department at Oxford University thinks so and describes his thesis in his book <em>In the Blink of an Eye</em>. But, it cannot be this simple an explanation, as evolution is neither directed nor compelled, especially by so single a force. There are many other factors at work including climate, geography, water currents, oxygen levels, competition, and even chance. Nevertheless, the formation of eyes, and especially the neurological processing necessary to process the image must have had a significant role in the “Cambrian explosion.”
 
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