How consciousness appeared much earlier in evolutionary history than is commonly
assumed, and why all vertebrates and perhaps even some invertebrates are conscious …

Lampreys, which represent the oldest group of living vertebrates (cyclostomes), show
unique eye development. The lamprey larva has only eyespot‐like immature eyes beneath a …

Lampreys, together with hagfishes, are the only extant representatives of the oldest branch
of vertebrates, the agnathans, which are the sister group of gnathostomes; therefore, studies …

As animals forage for food and water or evade predators, they must rapidly decide what
visual features in the environment deserve attention. In vertebrates, this visuomotor …

Animals constantly redirect their gaze away or towards relevant targets and, besides these
goal-oriented responses, stabilizing movements clamp the visual scene avoiding image …

The ancestral configuration of the vertebrate head has long been an intriguing topic in
comparative morphology and evolutionary biology. One peculiar component of the …

Jawless fishes were the first vertebrates to evolve. It is thus important to investigate them to
determine whether consciousness was acquired in the common ancestor of all vertebrates …

Vertebrate brains have diversified into a variety of forms, probably because of lineage-
specific modifications of the neural tube. By contrast, the anteroposterior arrangement of …

The adult lamprey retina has two types of photoreceptor cells, short and long photoreceptor
cells, which are equivalent to rods and cones of other vertebrates. In contrast, the retina of …

Visuo-vestibular reflexes together with spinal efference copy-driven eye movements
minimize visual disturbances during vertebrate locomotion. The optokinetic closed-loop …