Page 146 - The Cambrian Evidence that Darwin Failed to Comprehend

The Cambrian Evidence That Darwin Failed to Comprehend

mal kingdom. 105 If you fracture a large piece of calcite crystal, you
can see that it breaks along a regular plane, in line with its own
atomic structure. What is left in your hand is a six-sided crystal,
which allows light to pass through it. Calcite was specially created
in order to perform this superior visual function in the trilobite.
The reason why the trilobite’s calcite structure makes its eye so
unique is that other arthropods mostly have soft eyes. Since a trilo-
bite’s calcite eyes have a structure similar to other hard parts of its
body, they too have been well preserved. All the trilobite specimens
obtained so far have provided comprehensive information about the
eyes’ perfect and detailed structure.
The eyes were on top of the cheek of the animal and consisted

The main distinguishing feature in the
trilobite’s eye is calcite. This mineral
has let the building blocks of the pyra-
mids and ancient amphitheaters
survive down to the present day,
and comprised the animal’s
compound eyes. This spe-
cial structure makes
trilobites unique
among all living
things.

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