User:Ben6010/Evolution of the eye

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BI-496C 1st Edit of A Wikipedia Article Assignment - The Evolution of the Compound Eye

Lead

Name: Benjamin Pezzack

Student #: 180696010

Date: 5/3/2022

Course Code: BI-496C

Professor: Dr. Allison McDonald

Article body

The compound eye, which is a type of eye that forms part of the morphologies of many different species and subspecies of crustaceans and insects, essentially functions through the use of the multiple, separate ocular units known as ommatidia - which can be described as being groups of photoreceptor cells, along with accompanying pigment molecules (for the absorption of light photons) and other assisting molecules - together in the projection of an image of the world into the animal’s brain in the form of a patchwork collective of images from each of the separate units. This style of eye formation is especially important to the survivability of the many different kinds of insects and crustaceans of which it is a part of, as through its use of individual views of the world from a much wider rage of angles than would be normal within a standard single-lens eye, any creature housing a compound eye would be able to detect movement - and so therefore would better be able to detect any approaching predators or possible prey - far more efficiently than in any other form of eye. While no one knows the true process of evolutionary development from the primitive ocellus's, which are common characteristics of many individuals from the phylum Platyhelminthes, to the more complex compound eye, but it has been theorized that this process has been slowly undergone in order for individuals that possess compound eyes to be able to detect visible light from its entire range, that being roughly 400 nm - 700 nm on the electromagnetic scale. This is due to the fact that the rhabdoms, which are essentially the bonded microvilli of the photoreceptor cells of the different ommatidia - which together produce opsins, essentially molecules that give off an electromagnetic signal in response to light absorption - colored filters have been added between the separate sections. This then, in turn, causes the light photons which are absorbed via pigment cells at the top of the stacked rhabdom - which is in such a formation so as to absorb light photons at separate wavelengths as they traverse the entire structure - to more efficiently absorb the entirety of this light.

BI-496C 2nd Edit of A Wikipedia Article Assignment - The Evolution of the Compound Eye

Lead

Name: Benjamin Pezzack

Student #: 180696010

Date: 24/3/2022

Course Code: BI-496C

Professor: Dr. Allison McDonald

Article body

The compound eye, which is a type of eye that forms part of the morphologies of many species and subspecies of crustaceans and insects, essentially functions through the use of the multiple, separate ocular units known as ommatidia, which can be described as being groups of photoreceptor cells, along with accompanying pigment molecules (for the absorption of light photons) and other assisting molecules. The compound eyes utilize the separate view of the world gathered from all of its ommatidia together in the projection of a whole image of the world into the animal’s brain in the form of a patchwork collective of images. This style of eye formation is especially important to the survivability of the many different kinds of insects and crustaceans of which it is a part of. The compound eye essentially functions through its use of individual angels of the world from a much wider rage of angels than would be normal within a standard single-lens eye. This then means that any creature housing a compound eye would be able to detect movement - and so therefore would better be able to detect any approaching predators or possible prey - far more efficiently than in any other form of eye. While no one knows the true process of evolutionary development from the primitive ocellus's, which are common characteristics of many individuals from the phylum Platyhelminthes, to the more complex compound eye, but it has been theorized that this process has been slowly undergone in order for individuals that possess compound eyes to be able to detect visible light from its entire range. This is due to the fact that during the Cambrian period, which saw increased evolutionary progress of the eye compared to previous eras, there was a high content of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere that, over the course of the period, got more and more reduced by originating bacteria. This in turn increased the presence of visible light, causing motile organisms to require the need to see more in order to maintain their fitness levels. This explanation for the development of the eye forms the basis of Andrew Parker's "Light Switch Theory", a hypothesis which has been discredited in recent years within the field of study due to the discovery of fossils containing primitive compound eyes which existed many millions of years before the Cambrian explosion. It has been theorized that the original cause of the evolution of the compound eye within terrestrial organisms is due to the increased presences of certain wavelengths of electromagnetic radiation - such as those of ultraviolet radiation - within the earths atmosphere due to the original decrease in carbon dioxide levels within the earth's atmosphere due to the very first oxygenating bacteria on earth, but the true reason is currently unknown. Compound eyes function through the use of structures called rhabdoms, which are essentially the bonded microvilli of the photoreceptor cells of the different ommatidia - which together produce opsins, essentially molecules that give off an electromagnetic signal in response to light absorption - colored filters have been added between the separate sections. This then, in turn, causes the light photons which are absorbed via pigment cells at the top of the stacked rhabdom - which is in such a formation so as to absorb light photons at separate wavelengths as they traverse the entire structure - to more efficiently absorb the entirety of this light.