(See "'Weird Beastie' Shrimp Have Super Vision.")

The finding is based on a pair of 515-million-year-old stalked eyes belonging to the meter-long (three-foot-long) Anomalocaris, whose Latin name translates roughly to "weird crustacean."

The ancient eyes—each about 0.8 to 1.2 inches (2 to 3 centimeters) long—were found in shale deposits on Australia's Kangaroo Island (map).

Unlike humans—whose eyes each have a single, large lens—insects and crustaceans have eyes with multiple, usually hexagonal lenses, each of which transfers separate bits of information to the brain.