#chordata

[snototter]

A jungle cat (Felis chaus) in Faunapark Flakkee, the Netherlands

by safi kok

[silliestcreature196]

Let's be chocolate chip with mama

[reanimateobjects]

[alphynix]

Haikouichthys ercaicunensis was one of the earliest known vertebrates, living in what is now southwestern China during the Cambrian, around 518 million years ago.

About 2.5cm long (~1"), it had a streamlined body with a long fin along its back and tail. It lacked limbs and jaws, but it did have a flexible "upper lip" that could potentially have been used to manipulate food particles, either engulfing them on the seafloor or stirring them up into the water for filter-feeding.

And a recent study revealed a big surprise — it had four eyes! Along with its already-known large sideways-facing pair of eyes, it also had another smaller upwards-facing pair in the middle of its face, giving it a much wider field of vision and the ability to watch out for predators from multiple angles at once.

The extra pair of eyes may be the evolutionary precursors to the pineal complex in later vertebrates — represented in modern forms by the pineal gland and the parietal eye.

———

NixIllustration.com | Tumblr | Patreon

References:

Kasal, Krystal. "Four-eyed Cambrian fish fossils hint at origins of vertebrate pineal complex" Phys.org, 22 Jan. 2026, https://phys.org/news/2026-01-eyed-cambrian-fish-fossils-hint.html

Lei, Xiangtong, et al. "Four camera-type eyes in the earliest vertebrates from the Cambrian Period." Nature (2026): 1-6. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-025-09966-0

Mallatt, Jon. "Vertebrate origins are informed by larval lampreys (ammocoetes): a response to Miyashita et al., 2021." Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society 197.2 (2023): 287-321. https://doi.org/10.1093/zoolinnean/zlac086

Wikipedia contributors. “Haikouichthys” Wikipedia, 16 Mar. 2026, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Haikouichthys

[wikipediapictures]

Geckolepis

“Geckolepis megalepis specimen observed by A. Anker” - via Wikimedia Commons

[unhinged-inat]

Southern elephant seal (Mirounga leonina), photographed by charliesonn

[have-you-seen-this-animal]

Next April fools, human?

That's an excellent idea!

Have you seen a human (Homo sapiens)?

I have now

Yes, in photos/videos/in a mirror

Yes, irl

I'm not sure

Voting ended onApr 9

The first photo was taken by Mostafa Meraji, the second was originally posted by European Parliment, CC-BY-4.0: © European Union 2019 – Source: EP.

[areallyneatcicadashell]

I can’t stop thinking about him. 12 foot wingspan. Flight speed up to 84 miles per hour. Lives over 50 years. Circumnavigates the southern ocean. 4 subspecies. Probably so soft to hug.