Schmidtiellus

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

Schmiditellus 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.


Stub icon

This Redlichiida-related article is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it.