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Jeepers, Creepers, This Tiny Worm Sports Enormous Peepers

A bristle worm with eyes as sharp as those of mammals may shed light on UV, visual processing techniques.

By Paul Smaglik
Apr 11, 2024 3:00 PM
eyes of alciopid species
(Credit: Michael Bok) Beauty isn't always just in the eye of the beholder.

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Why does a creature that hunts at night need eyes that weigh about twenty times its head?

The question sounds like the set-up to a bad joke or a riddle from a sphinx. But it hooked biologist Anders Garm from the University of Copenhagen’s Department of Biology after his colleague Michael Bok at Lund University showed him a video of the Vanadis bristle worm.

The Vanadis Worm: A Marvel of Marine Biology

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