Flatfish fossils fill in evolutionary missing link

A newly identified fossil and the reinterpretation of previously known fossils, all from Europe and about 50 million years old, fill in a "missing link" in the evolution of flatfishes and explain one of nature's most extraordinary phenomena.

All living flatfishes, which include halibut, flounder and sole, have a bizarre structural adaptation: both eyes are on one side of their head. What is even more remarkable is that every flatfish is born symmetrical, with one eye on each side of its skull. However, as it develops from a larva to a juvenile, it undergoes a metamorphosis where one eye moves (or "migrates") gradually up and over the top of the head, coming to rest in its adult position on the opposite side of the skull.

What might have led to this adaptation?