The eye: the evolution of a complex organ

A new project of the Darwin museum named “The evolution of complex organs” has started with an exhibition about the eye, the most perfect optical system in the world. The showcases will present hundreds of animal eyes, from sharp-sighted eyes of an eagle to purblind eyes of a jellyfish.

Living creatures have a rich selection of visual devices including simple light-sensitive spots on the body of an earthworm and brilliant eyes of eagles. Can the human eye be considered an apex of the optical pyramid? The first part of the exhibition will help to answer this important question. Here our main visual organ had been taken apart into tiny parts such as the lens, the cornea, the retina, photoreceptors and carefully studied which led to the conclusion that the human eye is not ideal. This can be tested in a practical interactive zone by trying to deceive your eyesight using the optical illusion or repeating the favourite experiment of Louis XIV.

Note the remarkable picture of the evolution of the eye, from the simplest light sensors of jellyfish to the compound eyes of a dragonfly. Each evolutionary step is a new possibility of perceiving the world and a new instrument for survival. Did you know that the eyes of an ordinary fly can record up to 300 "shots" per second while the human eye is capable of only 50? But the biggest blow to the human self-esteem can be caused by a squid. Its vision is approximately 10 times more sensitive than ours.

Animals can surprise with not only a great variety of their eyes structure but also the number, form and location. Horizontal pupils of the Alpine ibex, watery eyes of nautilus and many other animal eyes are presented at the exhibition.

Актуальные мероприятия