Schmidtiellus

Schmidtiellus Temporal range: Late Atdabanian [1]
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Arthropoda
Class:	† Trilobita
Order:	† Redlichiida
Family:	† Holmiidae
Genus:	† Schmidtiellus Moberg, 1906
Species
S. mickwitzi S. reetae

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 spaced further apart, and without a lens. ^{[4] [5]}

References

1. Sepkoski, Jack (2002). "A compendium of fossil marine animal genera (Trilobita entry)". Bulletins of American Paleontology. 364: 560. Retrieved 1 December 2008.
2. "†Schmidtiellus Moberg 1906 (trilobite)". The Paleobiology Database.
3. 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.
4. Dean, Signe (8 December 2017). "This 530-Million-Year-Old Fossil Could Be The Oldest Eye Ever Discovered". ScienceAlert. Retrieved 2021-10-29.
5. Daley, Jason. "Gaze Into a 530-Million-Year-Old Eye, the Oldest Yet Discovered". Smithsonian Magazine. Retrieved 2021-10-29.