Objective To examine the morphological characteristics of the eyeballs of tree shrews and to compare the similarities and differences of the anatomical structure of the eye of tree shrews, monkeys, and humans to provide the necessary histological data to establish ocular disease models using tree shrews. Methods Paraffin-embedded sections of tree shrew and rhesus monkey eyeballs were prepared and analyzed by HE staining. Results The tree shrew eyeball mainly consisted of a lens and eyeball wall. The ocular wall was divided into three layers including the fibrous membrane, vascular membrane, and retina from the outside to inside. The anterior 1/6 of the fibrous membrane was the cornea, and the posterior 5/6 was the sclera. The vascular membrane was the middle layer of the ocular wall. It was composed of loose connective tissue, abundant blood vessels, and pigment cells. It was divided into the iris, ciliary body, and choroid from front to back. The retina was the innermost layer of the eyeball wall and had a typical structure of 10 layers. The histological structure of the tree shrew eyeball was consistent with that of rhesus monkey and human eyeballs, and the proportion of each tissue layer was approximately the same. The main differences were that the sclera epithelium of tree shrews contained melanocytes, and the proportion of each retinal layer was different from that of humans. Conclusions The eye tissue structure of tree shrews is similar to that of non-human primates and humans, and the tissue morphology is approximately the same. There is potential to establish an animal model of human eye-related diseases to clarify the pathogenesis of eye diseases.