For the first time, cells from fossilized fish eyes including the rods and cones of the eye have been found that scientists date back to around 300 million years ago.
Soft tissue rarely survives the fossilization process, so scientists typically have to rely solely upon what does stand the test of time when examining ancient creatures.
For the first time, scientists have come upon a well-preserved set of photoreceptors, which were found in a fish that lived about 300 million years ago.
The sample is so complete that the rods and cones were still in tact.
Cones allow animals to see in color, so this discovery proves to researchers that fish have been able to see the world in color for hundreds of million of years.
The fossil was discovered at the Hamilton Quarry in Kansas.
Fossils from this location are particularly well preserved because of how quickly they were covered by sediment in the prehistoric lagoon that used to exist where the quarry is today.
The fish fossil is about 4 inches long, and is reportedly the last shared ancestor species of cartilage skeleton fish like sharks, and bony fish like barracudas.
