Today's issue of Nature reports that a living species of brittlestar
Ophiocoma has thousands of tiny crystal lenses within its skeleton, making
the animal a "living eye." How well brittlestars see is an open question,
but they do respond to light and to predators.
http://www.boston.com/dailyglobe2/235/nation/Marine_eye_to_future+.shtml
The challenge is obvious: Who will be the first to trace these lenses back
in time?
Andrew K. Rindsberg
Geological Survey of Alabama
P.O. Box 869999
Tuscaloosa, AL 35486-6999 USA