Sub-micron structures causing reflection and antireflection in animals

Abstract

The evolution of optical reflectors in animals began soon after the first eye evolved. Trilobites are the first animals known to host image-forming eyes, of around 540∈Ma (Fig. 13.1); eyes which contain efficient optics in their own right (Parker, 1998; Parker et al., 2003). In the absence of vision, any incidental iridescence appearing before the Cambrian period would have been neutrally selective. But with the evolution of the eye, the size, shape, colour, and behaviour of animals were revealed for the first time. Consequently adaptive optical devices in nature were born. © 2009 Springer Science+Business Media B.V.