Schmidtiellus

Schmidtiellus is an extinct genus of holmiid trilobites from the Cambrian of Poland. 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. There are no lens structures on the top of the eye, so their vision only extends about 25-30 degrees above them.

No picture of Schmidtiellus was found. Wikipedia, Wikidata and iDigBio were searched and had none. Smithsonian Open Access did not answer, so this is what the others held rather than everything there is. GBIF was asked, and what came back is not recorded: nothing, or a picture this site could not tie to Schmidtiellus, or no answer at all. This entry cannot say which.

On record

Recorded, not inferred
Sits inside
HolmiinaePBDB
Diet
deposit feederPBDB, for Redlichiida
Life habit
low-level epifaunalPBDB, for Redlichiida
Motility
fast-movingPBDB, for Redlichiida
Vision
well-developedPBDB, for Holmiidae
Environment
marinePBDB, for Trilobita

Time the record covers

At most 5 million years on record.

Every occurrence read is dated to somewhere between 521 Mya and 516 Mya, and nothing in the dating separates them, so that window is what the record shows rather than a span.

Cambrian — about 2 of 2 occurrencesCambrian521–521 Mya — about 0.0 occurrences521–521 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences521–521 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences521–520 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences520–520 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences520–520 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences520–520 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences520–520 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences520–519 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences519–519 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences519–519 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences519–519 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences519–519 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences519–518 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences518–518 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences518–518 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences518–518 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences518–518 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences518–517 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences517–517 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences517–517 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences517–517 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences517–517 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences517–516 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences516–516 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences516–516 Mya — about 0.0 occurrences521.5 Mya515.5 Mya

2 occurrences of Schmidtiellus on record, most of them in the Cambrian. Bar height is expected occurrences, not a count: each fossil is spread across the span it is dated to, so a tall narrow bar means tight dating and a low wide one means loose.

When

2 occurrences

These are dates about fossils, not the animal: the record can only begin after it arose and end before it died out, so either end may reach further. Shares are expected occurrences: a fossil dated to a span is counted partly in each period it straddles. More on what this infers.

Found in

1 formation

Ocieseki Sandstone — 51.00°N, 20.00°EOcieseki Sandstone — 50.75°N, 20.97°E

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The named rock units Schmidtiellus has been recovered from, largest first. Drawn where the rock is now, not where it formed.

Schmidtiellus and its relatives

Cambrian

Where Schmidtiellus and its relatives were recorded in the Cambrian.

Found in the same rock

23 taxa

The Paleobiology Database records 2 sites for Schmidtiellus, and this reads all of them. The number is how many of those sites it was catalogued from too.

This is not a list of everything alive at the time. It is only what has come out of the same ground as this animal and been written down.

Entered from

2 references

Each of the 2 occurrences read was entered from one of these publications, ordered by how many each accounts for. This is not a search for papers mentioning the name. Each entry links to the Paleobiology Database's own record for the work.

Media and terms

Media content0

No picture of Schmidtiellus was found. Wikipedia, Wikidata and iDigBio were searched and had none.

Smithsonian Open Access did not answer, so this is what the others held rather than everything there is.

GBIF was asked, and what came back is not recorded: nothing, or a picture this site could not tie to Schmidtiellus, or no answer at all. This entry cannot say which.

No 3D scan of Schmidtiellus was found in Sketchfab.

Smithsonian Open Access and MorphoSource were not reached for this taxon, so this list is what the others held rather than everything there is.

The description on this site

Licence
CC BY-SA 4.0

This is what the site found, which is not the same as what exists.

Keep going

What may have been alongside itHolmiinae through timeFormations of the CambrianThe world it lived on

Occurrence data from the Paleobiology Database, CC BY 4.0. Moberg 1906