Excavation of fossilized marine life 530 million years is still eye

Researchers found with the right eye may be the oldest eye ever discovered.

The group of European scientists discovered the lobe of three lobes that existed 530 million years ago with the right eye quite intact in Estonia, International Business Times yesterday reported. The partially worn eye helps them look closely at the details of the eye structure.

The right eye of the three-lobed fossil may be the oldest eye ever excavated.(Photo: International Business Times).

The trilobite are the ancestors of spiders, crabs and are closely related to today's sams . Trilobites live in the Paleozoic period 540 - 250 million years ago. The eye of this creature may be a precursor to dual eyes, a large eye type made up of many separate small parts, similar to bee eyes or dragonflies.

However, ancient three-eyed beetles did not have lenses like today's creatures."Its compound eyes possess the same structure as modern bees and dragonflies, but lack the typical lenses of this kind of eye," the researchers said.

"This strange fossil tells us how I looked at the world hundreds of millions of years ago. In particular, it revealed that the structure and function of compound eyes is almost unchanged over half a billion years." Professor Euan Clarkson at Edinburgh University told the BBC.

The fossils from hundreds of millions of years ago are so well preserved."This is probably the oldest model people can find , " said Professor Brigitte Schoenemann at the University of Cologne, a member of the research team.

"The older specimens in the sediments beneath this fossil contain only a trace of organisms. They are too soft to turn into fossils and have decomposed over time," Schoenemann added.