Ophthalmosaurus

Ophthalmosaurus is a genus of ichthyosaur known from the Middle-Late Jurassic. Possible remains from the earliest Cretaceous are also known. It was a relatively medium-sized ichthyosaur, measuring 4 m (13 ft) long and weighing 940 kg (2,070 lb). Named for its extremely large eyes, it had a jaw containing many small but robust teeth. Major fossil finds of this genus have been recorded in Europe with a second species possibly being found in North America.

Ophthalmosaurus

User:Captmondo · CC BY-SA 3.0 · via Wikipedia/Commons. May be a photograph of a specimen, or an artist’s reconstruction — an interpretation of a skeleton, since colour and soft tissue are almost never preserved.

On record

Recorded, not inferred
Sits inside
OphthalmosaurinaePBDB
Diet
carnivorePBDB, for Ichthyosauria
Life habit
nektonicPBDB, for Ichthyopterygia
Motility
actively mobilePBDB, for Ichthyosauria
Environment
marinePBDB, for Ichthyosauria
Length
6 mWikidata

Time the record covers

At least 37 million years on record.

The record covers at least 174.7 Mya to 137.05 Mya. No occurrence read is dated outside 201.4 Mya to 132.6 Mya.

Late Triassic — about 0 of 27 occurrencesEarly Jurassic — about 1 of 27 occurrencesEarly JurassicMiddle Jurassic — about 9 of 27 occurrencesMiddle JurassicLate Jurassic — about 15 of 27 occurrencesLate JurassicEarly Cretaceous — about 2 of 27 occurrencesEarly Cretaceous203–200 Mya — about 0.0 occurrences200–198 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences198–196 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences196–193 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences193–191 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences191–188 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences188–186 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences186–184 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences184–181 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences181–179 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences179–177 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences177–174 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences169–167 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences167–165 Mya — about 2 occurrences165–162 Mya — about 6 occurrences162–160 Mya — about 3 occurrences160–157 Mya — about 2 occurrences157–155 Mya — about 1 occurrence155–153 Mya — about 0.5 occurrences153–150 Mya — about 2 occurrences150–148 Mya — about 2 occurrences148–146 Mya — about 2 occurrences146–143 Mya — about 4 occurrences143–141 Mya — about 0.9 occurrences141–138 Mya — about 0.3 occurrences138–136 Mya — about 0.4 occurrences136–134 Mya — about 0.5 occurrences134–131 Mya — about 0.2 occurrences174.7 Mya137.05 Mya203 Mya131 Mya

27 occurrences of Ophthalmosaurus on record, most of them in the Late Jurassic. 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

27 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

5 formations

Oxford Clay — 52.00°N, 0.70°WOxford Clay — 52.57°N, 0.23°WOxford Clay — 50.61°N, 2.45°WOxford Clay — 52.56°N, 0.29°WSundance — 43.65°N, 106.78°WSundance — 44.57°N, 108.05°WSundance — 42.84°N, 107.59°WSundance — 44.55°N, 104.12°WVaca Muerta — 39.19°S, 69.67°WVaca Muerta — 38.83°S, 70.20°WVaca Muerta — 38.11°S, 70.50°WSpilsby Sandstone — 53.49°N, 0.33°WLa Caja — 25.04°N, 100.95°W

Loading coastlines…

The named rock units Ophthalmosaurus has been recovered from, largest first. Drawn where the rock is now, not where it formed. 10 occurrences have no formation on record, which is common for older literature.

Ophthalmosaurus and its relatives

Late Jurassic

Where Ophthalmosaurus and its relatives were recorded in the Late Jurassic.

Found in the same rock

96 taxa

The Paleobiology Database records 26 sites for Ophthalmosaurus, and this reads all of them. The number is how many of those sites it was catalogued from too. The 24 sharing the most are listed.

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

23 references

Each of the 27 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. 11 further references are not listed. Entries link to doi.org where the Paleobiology Database holds an identifier, and to its own record where it does not. Relayed as the Paleobiology Database holds them, not checked against what they resolve to.

Media and terms

Media content3

Picture of Ophthalmosaurus

Credit
User:Captmondo
Licence
CC BY-SA 3.0
Commercial use
the licence allows it

Photogrammetry

Licence
not stated by the source
Commercial use
cannot be read from the licence given — check the record
Specimen
Ophthalmosaurus icenicus · nhmuk:pal:PV R 389

3D model

Source
Sketchfab
Licence
CC Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike
Commercial use
the licence does not allow it

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 itOphthalmosaurinae through timeFormations of the Late JurassicThe world it lived on

Occurrence data from the Paleobiology Database, CC BY 4.0. Seeley 1874