Strange Mosasaur Fossil Reveals These Predators Had Binocular Vision Like Humans

First Posted: Dec 09, 2015 08:59 AM EST

An unusual mosasaur fossil is telling researchers a bit more about what type of vision these ancient creatures had. Scientists have examined the fossil and have found it had binocular vision.

The fossil marine reptile is named Phophorosaurus ponpetelegans, and existed during the Late Cretaceous period just before the last of the dinosaurs, including Tyrannosaurus. Compared with some of their mosasaur cousins that could grow as large as 40 feet, this species was comparatively small at just 10 feet long.

"Previously discoveries of this particularly rare mosasaur have occurred along the East Coast of North America, the Pacific Coast of North America, Europe and North Africa, but this is the first to fill the gap between the Middle East and the Eastern Pacific," said Takuya Konishi, one of the researchers, in a news release.

Because the fossil was so well preserved, the researcher found that the fossil had binocular vision. This means that its eyes were on the front of its face, providing depth perception. This, in particular, shows that the eye structure of these smaller mosasaurs was different from their larger cousins, whose eyes were on either side of their large heads, such as the eye structure of a horse.

"The forward-facing eyes on Phosphorosaurus provide depth perception to vision, and it's common in birds of prey and other predatory mammals that dwell among us today," said Konishi. "But we knew already that most mosasaurs were pursuit predators based on what we know they preyed upon-swimming animals. Paradoxically, these small mosasaurs like Phosphorosaurus were not as adept swimmers as their larger contemporaries because their flippers and tailfins weren't as well developed."

The findings reveal a bit more about these predators and show that they may have been sit-and-wait hunters that burst toward prey when opportunity arose within the water.

The findings are published in the Journal of Systematic Palaeontology.

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TagsDinosaurs, Dinosaur, dinosaur fossils, Reptile, Fossil, fossils, Animals, Animal Behavior, Predator