The Fossil Record's Biggest Problem: Trilobites

Now, according to the trilobite research in this chapter, what specific features of the trilobite's eyes challenge the idea of simple primitive beginnings?

Right.

Well, I think one of the fascinating things about these, uh, creatures, which were, uh, like the, um, you know, little bugs that you see that, that curl up, uh, that you sometimes-

Like slaters?

... find around.

Yeah, that's right.

Slaters, yes.

Yeah, little, uh, slaters, yes.

Mm-hmm.

So these were creatures that grew quite, quite large, some of them, um, you know, sort of several feet or a meter across-

Wow

... sort of thing.

Mm.

And so they have a head, they have a, a multi-segmented, uh, body, and then a, a tail shield.

So they've got legs, um, uh, jointed legs, this sort of thing.

So quite a complex, uh, animal.

Hmm.

Uh, but, uh, as you mentioned, yes, very advanced, uh, eyes con- uh, consisting of a li- very large number of tubes pointing in, um, in different directions that are all sort of corrected, uh, for the particular optical performance that they have.

Now, the, the problem is that these extremely complex animals are found right down the bottom of the fossil chain.

Hmm.

So they're found, uh, just above the, in, in the early, um, uh, Cambrian rocks-

Mm-hmm

... just above the, uh, the Precambrian.

So we find the earliest life forms, supposedly a, a sort of little multicellular animals and these sort of things.

Um, but I think it's fascinating, the trilobites just appear there-