World's Oldest Eye is 530 Million Years Old (Video)

An international group of scientists has discovered fossilized remains of an eye from 530 million years, the Independent newspaper reported.

It belongs to a trilobite - a lost invertebrate that lived in the seas during the Paleozoic era (541-251 million years ago). In its structure, the eye resembles the intricate visual organs of insects. Scientists have found that it is a primitive version of the faint eyes, consisting of photosensitive cells - ointments.

For 500 million years, however, this structure has changed a little. The fossils of Schmidtiellus reetae were partially erased, allowing the researchers to study their construction. There were about 100 ointments in the organ of the trilobite, but there was no eye lens, as with modern insects. The animal had bad vision, but it was able to discern predators and obstacles along the way. Experts from the University of Edinburgh, Scotland, Cologne University, Germany, and Tallinn University of Technology, Estonia, made the discovery after studying fossils of trilobite found in Estonia.