Our earliest vertebrate ancestors may have had four eyes

What’s Happening

Okay so Extraordinary fossils of 518-million-year-old jawless fish, among the earliest known vertebrates, appear to show that these animals had two pairs of eyes Life Our earliest vertebrate ancestors may have had four eyes Extraordinary fossils of 518-million-year-old jawless fish, among the earliest known vertebrates, appear to show that these animals had two pairs of eyes By James Woodford 21 January 2026 Facebook / Meta Twitter / X icon Linkedin Reddit Email Illustration of Haikouichthys , a fish from the Cambrian period, with a second pair of eyes suggested Xiangtong Lei, Sihang Zhang Over half a billion years ago, the world’s oldest known vertebrates seem to have sported an extra set of eyes – and humans may still carry a remnant of this ancient evolutionary innovation.

Extraordinary fossils of two species of jawless fish called myllokunmingids were found by Peiyun Cong at Yunnan University in China and his colleagues between 2019 and 2024, on the banks of Dianchi Lake in south-west China. Bizarre fossil may have been an entirely new type of life The ancient life forms found in this area, known as the Chengjiang biota, are preserved in exquisite detail. (plot twist fr)

They date from around 518 million years ago, during a period known as the Cambrian , when life exploded in diversity, creating most of the major animal groups alive today.

The Details

Importantly, the vertebrate fossils found by Cong’s team included preserved soft body parts and the creatures’ eyes. Complex eyes evolved independently in several groups of animals.

Some invertebrates, such as insects, have compound eyes made up of hundreds or thousands of separate units, each with its own lens, cone and light receptors, together creating a mosaic image. Free to The Earth Edition Unmissable news about our planet, delivered straight to your inbox each month.

Why This Matters

To Vertebrates, such as humans and reptiles, have what scientists describe as camera-type eyes. Our eyes consist of a spherical lens, a retina, an iris and muscles that control their movement. They also contain pigmented structures called melanosomes, which among other things determine our eye colour.

The scientific community tends to find developments like this significant.

The Bottom Line

They also contain pigmented structures called melanosomes, which among other things determine our eye colour.

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