Evolution's Witness

Ivan R. Schwab M.D. is currently a professor at the University of California, Davis where he has worked as an Ophthalmologist for over twenty years, and was on the faculty at West Virginia University for seven years before coming to UCD. His strong interest in biology and natural history has led him to investigate a diverse range of topics including ocular stem cells, bioengineered tissues for the eye and comparative optics and physiology. He has published extensively in these fields, with three previous books to his credit, and he was the winner of the 2006 IgNobel for Ornithology. He has combined those interests with one in evolution to produce this text on the evolution of the eye.

Table of Contents ; Foreword: Russell Fernald PhD ; Acknowledgments ; Introduction ; Prologue: Molecular Genesis: ; Hadean Eon 4600-3750 million years ago ; Chapters ; 1. The age of first cellular life ; Archean Eon 3750-2500 million years ago ; Prokaryotes ; Early cells-protobionts ; First life ; First witness ; The road to cellular success ; Retinal ; Photolyases and cryptochromes ; Sunlight and blue light ; Beginning to organize ; Genetic machinery-the toolkit ; Prokaryotic gifts ; Further organization ; 2. The age of complex cellular life ; Proterozoic Eon 2500-543 million years ago ; Cryogenian Period 580-650 million years ago ; Ediacaran Period 650-543 million years ago ; Inception of Eukaryotes ; Nucleated Kleptomaniacs ; Euglena gracilis ; Bridging the Gap to Metozoa ; 3. Eukaryotes organize and metozoans arise ; Neoproterozoic Era 1000-543 millions years ago ; Cryogenian Period 850-650 million years ago ; Ediacaran Period 650-543 million years ago ; Multicellular animals ; Sensory Input ; The Eye and the Brain ; Metazoans and their eyes ; 4. Early animals prepare the ground ; Ediacaran Period 650-543 million years ago ; A major genetic step ; Urbilaterians ; Another major genetic step ; Wormy beginnings ; Genetic development of eyes ; Annelids ; Mollusks take the stage ; Kimberella quadrata ; Acanthochiton communis ; Small Shelly Fauna ; 5. Vision's big bang blazes the trail ; Early Paleozoic Era, Cambrian Explosion 543-490 million years ago ; The Burgess Shale ; Invertebrates in ascendancy ; The first eye ; Trilobites ; More invertebrates and their eyes appear ; Specific examples ; 6. The age of Arthropods ; A major phylum begins: Paleozoic era, Cambrian Period 534-490 million years ago ; Compound Eye Development ; Apposition Eye ; The Crabs ; Cambrian ; 7. Vertebrates Gain a Foothold ; Paleozoic Era, Cambrian Period ; 543-490 million years ago ; Phylum Chordata ; First true vertebrates ; Conodonts ; Building a vertebrate eye ; Tapetum ; Why Color vision? ; 8. Shelly fauna rule the sea ; Paleozoic Era ; Ordovician ; 490-445 million years ago ; Mollusa ; Bivalvia ; Gastropoda ; 9. The piscine eye develops ; Silurian ; 445-415 million years ago ; Vertebrate expansion ; Placoderms ; Elasmobranchs - ; 10.The piscine eye matures ; Early Devonian Period ; 415-362 million years ago ; Bony fish appear ; Anatomy of Piscine eye ; The outer coats of the eye ; The Lens ; Neurology and optics ; Habitat expansion ; Piscine camouflage ; 11. Insects arise to fly ; Paleozoic Era ; Early Devonian ; 415-398 million years ago ; Arthropods come ashore ; The Superposition Eye ; The apposition eye ; 12. Stealth, Speed and Predation ; Paleozoic Era ; Devonian ; 415-362 million years ago ; Arachnida ; 13. The age of Tetrapods and Terrestrials ; Late Devonian Period ; 385-362 million years ago, ; Vertebrate Animalia comes ashore ; Vertebrate quest for land ; Early tetrapodian eyes ; The challenge of a terrestrial environment ; Eyelids and the lacrimal system ; Extraocular muscles ; Tear Glands ; Cornea and lens ; Retina and vision ; Consolidation of the assumption of land ; 14.Terrestrial life flourishes ; Carboniferous 362-299 million years ago ; Permian 299-251 million years ago ; Vertebrates ; Synapsids and their eyes ; Diapsids and their eyes ; Invertebrates ; Permian extinction ; 15. Reptiles push the ocular envelope ; The age of reptiles ; Mesozoic Era ; Triassic ; 251-208 million years ago ; Synapsids ; Sauropsids ; Anapsids ; Diapsids ; Adnexa of the reptilian eye ; Eyelids ; Lepidosaurs ; Archosaurs ; 16. March of the Archosaurs ; Mesozoic Era ; Triassic ; 251-208 million years ago ; Jurassic ; 208-145 million years ago ; Archosaurs ; The Order Testudines (turtles, terrapins, and tortoises) ; Turtle Eye ; Crocodilians ; Archosaurian sisters ; Ichthyosaurs ; 17. Dinosaurs and their companions ; Mesozoic Era ; Triassic ; 251-208 million years ago ; Jurassic ; 208-145 million years ago ; Pterosaurs ; Dinosaurs ; Sauropods ; Theropods ; 18. Cephalopods change direction ; Mesozoic Era ; Jurassic ; 208-145 million years ago ; Coleoids ; Cephalopod lens ; Extraocular muscles ; Coleoid Expansion ; 19. Snakes arise from the ground ; Cretaceous (145-65million years ago) ; Fossorial lizards ; Recreating an eye ; 20. The Age of Birds - The eye is taken to great heights ; Mesozoic Era ; Cretaceous (145-65 million years ago) ; Tertiary Period (65-2million years ago) ; Birds arise ; Globe morphology ; Globose Globe ; Flattened Globe ; Tubular Eye ; Orbital size and contents ; Visual fields ; Eyelids ; Nictitans ; Cornea ; Iris and pupil ; Accommodation ; Uvea: Choroid, ciliary body, iris ; Retina ; Visual Processing ; Oil Droplets ; Macular design ; Area Centralis ; Single fovea ; Infula ; Convexiclivate fovea-Single deep fovea ; Bifovate retina ; White-#ronted Bee Eater ; Pecten ; Neurologic evolution ; 21. Pollinators Co-Evolve ; Mesozoic and Cenozoic Eras ; Jurassic 208-145 million years ago ; Cretaceous 145-64 million years ago ; Tertiary 65-2 million years ago ; The Earth in bloom ; A bounty for insects ; Social Hymenoptera ; Wasp, Bees, Ants, and Sawflies ; True Flies and a new eye ; Diptera ; Brachyceran flies ; 22. Mammalia diversifies ; Mesozoic and Cenozoic Eras ; Mid to late Jurassic 161 to 145 million years ago) ; Cretaceous 145-65 million years ago ; Early to mid Tertiary Period 65-56 million years ago) ; Mammals thrive ; The descent of color vision ; Marsupials ; 23. The Age of Mammals ; Mesozoic and Cenozoic Era ; Late Cretaceous 100-65 million years ago ; Tertiary 65-1.8 million years ago ; Quaternary1.8 million years ago to present ; Mammals extend their dominance ; Placental Mammals ; Primate tuning of color vision? ; 24. Planktonic soup evolves ; Cenozoic Era ; Tertiary 65 to1.8 million years ago ; Quaternary 1.8 million years ago to present ; Tiny aquatic Arthropods ; Testing the limits of eye size ; Copepods ; Transformation of larval eyes ; 25. Mammals return to the sea ; Tertiary 65-1.8 million years ago ; Quaternary 1.8 million years ago to present ; Aquatic Mammals ; 26. The visual witness and a conscious brain ; Cenozoic Era ; Quaternary period 1.8 million years ago-present ; The human eye ; The direction of the visual witness ; Appendices ; A The human eye-a camera style eye ; B Extraocular muscles ; Medial rectus ; Superior oblique ; Retractor bulbi ; Trochlea ; C Retinal Vascularization ; Evolution of retinal vascularization ; Mammalian forms of retinal vascularization ; D Evolution of the cornea and ocular coats ; Safeguarding precious contents ; E Accommodation ; F Crystalline lens ; G Photoreceptor cells ; H Neurologic evolution in birds ; References by Chapter ; Glossary ; Index