hunting, mammoths; see also predators
Huxley, Sir Andrew
Huxley, Thomas
Huygens, Christiaan
hydrogen, photosynthesis
hydrothermal vents
hyenas
hyoliths
Hyracodon
Ice Ages
ice caps
ice core studies
Iliffe, Thomas
Impressionists
India
Indian Ocean
Industrial Revolution
Ingram, Abigail
insects; in amber; camouflage; compound eyes; evolution from trilobites; sound detectors; ultraviolet vision
Insolicorypha
internal body plans; classification of animals; evolution of phyla; genetics; Precambrian evolution
intralensar bowl design
Inventors’ Association
invisibility, silver colouration
iridescence: ammonites; bristle worms; in fossils; functions; lamp shells; Messel beetles; oval crabs; seed- shrimps; thin films
irises
isopods
Isoxys
Jamoytius kerwoodi
jawless fish
jellyfish; body plan; Ediacaran fossils; eggs; eyes; light perception; Precambrian; senses; transparency
Jenkins, Farish Jr
Jesus Christ, reconstruction of face of
jumping spiders
Jurassic
Keable, Steve
Keats, John
Knight’s Pictorial Museum of Animated Nature
Knoll, Andy
Korite
Kornicker, Louis
ladybirds
lamp shells
lampreys
lancelets
Land, Michael
Laws of Life
leaf insects
Leanchoilia
leaves: colour; corrugations; photosynthesis; pore data
leeches
lenses; calcite lenses; camera-type eyes; compound eyes; cornea as; focusing; graded lenses; in light perceivers; quartz lenses; spherical aberration; trilobite eyes
Leonardo da Vinci
leopards
life, origins of
light: adaptation to; and adaptive radiation; at night; bioluminescence; and camouflage colours; cave animals and lack of; changes in sunlight levels; and colour; creation of ‘niches’; diffraction gratings; evolution of oval crabs; extraterrestrial effects on levels; focusing; heliography; importance to evolution; intralensar bowl design; ‘Light Switch’ theory; liquid crystals; mirror eyes; nature of; polarisation; and rate of evolution; retinal destruction; seed-shrimp iridescence; as selection pressure; speed of; spherical aberration; thin films; trigger for evolution of eye; ultraviolet; under water
light perception; evolution of eyes; ocelli; in plants; in Precambrian; single-celled animals; size of receptors
Lightning Ridge
limpets
Linnaeus, Carl
lions
liquid crystals
living fossils
lizards
Lobochesis longiseta
lobsters
Louisella
Lowry, Jim
luciferase
luciferin
luminescence see bioluminescence
Lund University
Lutz, Herbert
McAlpine, David
‘McAlpine flies’
Mackenzie Mountains
McMenamin, Dianna Schulte
McMenamin, Mark
macro-evolution
Madagascar
maggots
magnetic detectors
Magrath, Alberta
majestic iridescent crab
mammals: evolution of; eyes; nocturnal animals; placentals; species
mammoths
Manchester University
marine caves
marlin
Marrella
marsupials
mass extinctions
mating
Mawsonites
Maxwell, James Clerk
mechanical receptors
media, evolution of news production
melanin
Messel beetles
meteorites
Mexico
mice
Mickwitzia
micro-evolution
microbes, revival of
Microdictyon
Micromitra
Middleton, Kevin
Miller, Stanley
Milne Edwards, Henri
mimicry
minerals, and seawater transparency
mirrors: in compound eyes; dark-adapted eyes; mirror eyes; in telescopes; under water
mitochondria
moles
molluscs; Burgess Shale fossils; chemical receptors; eyeless; eyes; light perception; Precambrian; three-dimensional models
Monet, Claude
monitor lizards
monotremes
moray eels
Morin, Jim
morphometrics
mosasaurs
mosquitoes
moss animals
moths
Mount Cap
Mount Lofty
movement, visual appearance
Murchison meteorite
Museum of Antiquities, Leiden
Museum of Natural History, Oxford
mutations, genetic drift
Myodocopa
‘mysid’ crustaceans
nacreous layer, shells
Naraoia
Naraoids
National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution
nautilus
Nectocaris
Neocobboldia
Neocobboldia chinlinica
nerves: chemical detectors; evolution of vision; mechanical receptors
New Caledonia
New Guinea
Newton, Sir Isaac
Nilsson, Dan-Eric
nitrogen dioxide
nocturnal animals
notched seed-shrimps see seed-shrimps
nucleic acids
nudibranchs (sea slugs)
Nularbor Plain
numb ray
oceans: bioluminescence; continental shelf; darkness; Permian extinction; ‘Snowball Earth’ hypothesis; sunlight; transparency
ocelli
octopus
Odaraia
Ohio State University
oil reserves
Olenoides
onycophorans
Oort cloud
Opabinia
opal
Ophrys orchids
Ophthalmosaurus
optics
Oregon University
Orsten fossils
Osiris
ostracods see seed-shrimps
Ottoia
oval crabs
owls
Oxford University
oxygen: in atmosphere; nautilus breaths; Permian extinction
ozone layer
Pacific Ocean
Papua New Guinea
Paraphyllina intermedia
parasites
Parvancorina
pea aphids
peacocks
peanut worms
Pelger, Susanne
Pennant, Thomas
peppered moths
Permian extinction event
Perspicaris
Phacopina
phosphatisation, fossils
phosphorus
photography
photons
photosynthesis
phyla: Burgess Shale fossils; Cambrian explosion; classification of animals; evolution of; Precambrian period
Phytophthora infestans
pigments; in ancient Egyptian art; cave animals; chromatophores; colour mixing; in compound eyes; in fossils; purpose of; sea slugs
Pikaia
Pilbara
pines, Wollemi
pinhole eyes
Pirania
Pissarro, Camille
> pistol shrimps
placental mammals
plankton
plants: colours; corrugated leaves; fossils; light perception; photosynthesis; pore data
plate tectonics
Podocopa
polarisation, light
polyps, coral
pond snails
Portuguese man-of-war
Poulton, Sir Edward Bagnall
praying mantids
Precambrian; atmosphere; evolution of internal body plans; fossils; light perception; predators; proto-trilobites; ‘Snowball Earth’ hypothesis
predators: bioluminescence and; Cambrian explosion; camouflage colouration; cave animals; eyes; laws of survival; nocturnal animals; in Precambrian; primary signs of; teeth; and warning colouration
prehistoric man
pressure receptors
prey species: defences; evolution; eyes; fossil evidence; Precambrian; survival strategies
priapulid worms
prisms
Promissum
proteins
protists
proto-trilobites
Ptychagnostus
puffer fish
punctuated equilibrium, evolution
pupils, pinhole eyes
quartz lenses
Queensland Museum
rabbits
radar
Raphael
Raw, Frank
Raymond, Percy
razor shells
red light: thin films; under water
reefs
reflectors and reflections: in ammonites; in camera-type eyes; dark-adapted eyes; diffraction gratings; gold leaf; jellyfish camouflage; lamp shells; liquid crystals; Messel beetles; opal; oval crabs; right-way-up flies; thin films; under water; upside-down flies
regressive evolution
relict fauna
remipedes
reptiles
Retifacies
retina; camera-type eyes; compound eyes; crustaceans; destruction of; fish eyes; jumping spiders; in light perceivers; mirror eyes; pinhole eyes
ribbon worms
Richie, Alex
right-way-up flies
Rittenhouse, David
rocks, sedimentary
Rocky Mountains
Romans
Royal Institution
Royal Tyrrell Museum, Alberta
Ruben, John
salamanders
Sanctacaris
Sapphirina
Sarotrocercus
scallops
Scavengers of East Australian Seas (SEAS) expedition
Schaal, Stephan
schizochroal eyes
scorpions
sea anemones
sea cucumbers
sea dragons
sea gooseberries
sea lice
sea lilies
sea mouse
sea pens
sea slugs see nudibranchs
sea spiders
sea squirts
sea urchins
Sedgwick, Adam
sediment, sea floor
sedimentary rocks
seed-shrimps; anatomy; ‘baked bean’; bioluminescence; courtship displays; evolution; eyes; fossils; iridescence; mating; SEAS expedition; shells; species
segmented worms
selection pressures: animals with eyes; colours; for hard parts; light; in low-light environments; predators; structural colours; survival factors
Selkirkia
senses: cave animals; chemical receptors; evolution of; gravity detectors; magnetic detectors; mechanical receptors; at night; in Precambrian; pressure receptors; temperature receptors; see also vision
sessile eyes
sexual reproduction
Shaanxi province
shadows, camouflage
shape: adaptation to light; visual appearance
sharks
shells: evolution of; nacreous layer; nautilus and ammonoids; oval crabs; seed-shrimps; structural colours; trilobites
Shizhudiscus
Shizhudiscus longquanensis
shrews
shrimps; colour of cave shrimps; diffraction gratings; eyes; sounds; ultraviolet vision
Shubin, Neil
Siberia
side-necked turtles
Sidneyia
Sierra Madre Oriental
silica dioxide
silver colouration, fish
silver light, upside-down flies
silverfish insects
Simonetta, Alberto
simple eyes
single-celled organisms
Sinosauropteryx
Siveter, David
Siveter, Derek
size: deep-sea animals; of eyes; visual appearance
skin: chromatophores; processing of sensory information; silver colouration in fish
Skogsbergia
skull, reconstruction of face from
smell, sense of
Smith, John Maynard
Smith, Richard
Smithsonian Institution
snails
snakes
snapping shrimps
‘Snowball Earth’ hypothesis
solar system
soldiers, use of colour
sonar
sound: detectors; oval crabs; snapping shrimps
South America
South-East Asia
species: classification; evolution; long-term survival
spectrum, diffraction gratings
Spence Shale
sperm
sperm whales
spherical aberration, lenses
spiders; colour; evolution from trilobites; eyeless; eyes; light perception
spines, defences
sponges; body plan; Burgess Shale fossils; colours; Precambrian fossils; senses; spines
Spriggs, Reginald
squid
stag beetles
stalked eyes
starfish
stereograms
stereoscopic vision
stick insects
stimulus production: adaptation to; day/night differences; see also selection pressures
Stoddart, Helen
stonefish
strepsipterans
stromatolites
structural colours; calcite; in fossils; functions; liquid crystals; opal; thin films; see also diffraction gratings; iridescence
sucker fish
sun, luminosity
sunlight see light
supernovae
superposition eyes
survival, laws of
Sutton, Mark
Sweden
Sydney
Sydney funnel web spider
Sydney Morning Herald
tadpoles
Tasmania
Tasmanian tiger
taste, sense of
taxonomy see classification of animals
teeth: placental mammals; predators
television: colour; evolution of news media
temperature: carbon dioxide levels in atmosphere; detectors; nocturnal animals; and origins of life; Snowball Earth hypothesis
Thames, river
theropod dinosaurs
thin films
Thomas, Lewis
Thorius
3D vision
three-dimensional models, fossils
thrombolites
tigers
timescale: evolution of eye; geological
toads
touch, sense of
Towe, Kenneth
trace fossils
transparency
traps, scavenger
Tribrachidium
trilobites; antennae; bite marks; and Cambrian explosion; colour; defences; extinctioneyeless; eyes; feeding methods; handedness; healing ability; proto-trilobites; quartz lenses; time ranges
turkeys
turtles
Tyrannosaurus rex
ultrasound
ultraviolet light; invisible patterns; protection
from; quartz lenses and
unicorn fish
United Nations
United States of America
upside-down flies
Utrecht University
Valentine, James
Vannier, Jean
velvet worms
vibration detectors
vision: adaptation to; at night; brain and; as cause of Cambrian explosion; colour; stereoscopic; as survival tactic; in ultraviolet light; see also eyes
visual appearance; see also colour; external hard parts
Vogt, Klaus
volcanoes
Volvox
von Bekesy, Georg
Vostok
Walcott, Charles Doolittle
Wallace, Alfred Russel
Walossek, Dieter
Wapkia
Waptia
warning colouration
warriors, use of colour
water: light under; vision under; see also oceans
water lilies
Watson’s Bay, Sydney
wavelengths: colour; light
Wedgwood, Tom
Welch, Victoria
whales
White, Rev. Gilbert
Whittington, Harry
Wickramasinghe, Chandra
Wiener, Otto
Wilberforce, Samuel
wildebeest
winkles
Wiwaxia
wolf spiders
Wollemi pines
Woodford, James
woodlice
Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution
Wookey Hole
Wootton Bassett
worms
Wyoming
Xandarella
Yellowstone National Park
Yoho National Park
Yohoia
Young, Thomas
Yue Zhao
Zhang Xi-guang
Zharkov family
Andrew Parker received his Ph.D. from Macquarie University in Sydney while working in marine biology for the Australian Museum. He became a Royal Society University Research Fellow at Oxford University’s Department of Zoology in 1999, and is an Ernest Cook Research Fellow of Somerville College, Oxford, and a Research Associate of the Australian Museum and University of Sydney. He has published numerous scientific papers on topics as diverse as optics in nature, biomimetics and evolution. He lives in Oxfordshire, England.
1 With the exception of one or two extinctions.
Copyright © 2003 by Andrew Parker
Published by Basic Books,
A Member of the Perseus Books Group
Hardback first published in 2003 by Perseus Publishing Paperback first published in 2004 by Basic Books
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews. For information, address Basic Books, 387 Park Avenue South, New York, NY 10016.
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