Summary

While in China on a dig to find salamander fossils in northeast China, Shubin stumbled onto one of the finest salamander fossils ever discovered. A fossil dealer in a mineral shop bargained in Chinese with Shubin’s companion, Gao Keqin, who finally convinced the dealer to let them see a special fossil he had in the back room. The larval salamander fossil was about three inches long and contained great impressions of the entire animal. The most amazing feature was the eye of the creature. Shubin was staring at the eye of an ancient salamander. The majority of the images that we “see” actually happen inside our brains. The eye is designed to capture light and transmit it to the brain. The eye acts as a camera. Every animal that has a skull from fish to mammal has the same type of eye...