Schmidtiellus
| Schmidtiellus Temporal range: Late Atdabanian[1]
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|---|---|
| Scientific classification | |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Arthropoda |
| Clade: | †Artiopoda |
| Class: | †Trilobita |
| Order: | †Redlichiida |
| Family: | †Holmiidae |
| Genus: | † Moberg, 1906 |
| Species | |
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Schmidtiellus is an extinct genus of holmiid trilobites from the Cambrian of Poland.[2][3] As of 2017, a Schmidtiellus reetae fossil from 530 mya, collected in Saviranna in northern Estonia, is the oldest known fossilized eye. The structure is similar to the compound eyes of modern-day dragonflies and bees, but with (~100) ommatidia with lenses spaced further apart.[4] There are no lens structures on the top of the eye, so their vision only extends about 25-30 degrees above them.[4]
References
- ^ Sepkoski, Jack (2002). "A compendium of fossil marine animal genera (Trilobita entry)". Bulletins of American Paleontology. 364: 560. Retrieved 1 December 2008.
- ^ "†Schmidtiellus Moberg 1906 (trilobite)". The Paleobiology Database.
- ^ Lieberman, Bruce (1999). "Systematic revision of the Olenelloidea (Trilobita, Cambrian)". Bulletin of the Yale University Peabody Museum of Natural History. 45: 1–150 – via Yale University EliScholar.
- ^ a b Schoenemann, Brigitte (December 4, 2017). "Structure and function of a compound eye, more than half a billion years old". Biological Sciences. 114 (51) – via PNAS.