'Oldest eye ever discovered’ in 530-million-year-old fossil

The 'exceptional' specimen 'shows us how early animals saw the world around them'

Lydia Smith 

Scientists have found what they believe is the oldest eye ever discovered in a 530-million-year-old fossil.

The remains of the extinct sea creature includes the early form of an eye, which is seen in many animals that exist today, including bees and dragonflies.

An international team of researchers made the find while examining the fossil of a species called a trilobite unearthed in Estonia, according to the study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences journal. 

Trilobites, hard-shelled ancestors of crabs and spiders, lived in coastal waters during the Palaeozoic era between 541-251 million years ago.

Scientists discovered the species, called Schmidtiellus reetae, had a primitive form of compound eye, an optical organ consisting of tiny visual cells called ommatidia.

“This exceptional fossil shows us how early animals saw the world around them hundreds of millions of years ago," said Professor Euan Clarkson, of the University of Edinburgh’s School of GeoSciences who was part of the research team. 

 “Remarkably, it also reveals that the structure and function of compound eyes has barely changed in half a billion years.”

Continued