Thursday, December 10, 2015

Phosphorosaurus ponpetelegan, a Mosasaur with Binocular Vision


The Late Cretaceous mosasaur, Phosphorosaurus ponpetelegans (a phosphorus lizard from an elegant creek), is believed to have hunted on glowing fish and squids at night. Phosphorosaurus is relatively small, about 3 meters, or 10 feet long. This unique discovery in a creek in the town of Mukawa in northern Japan reveals that they were able to colonize throughout the northern hemisphere.

It had binocular vision, a new discovery for this fossil species. 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. From Phys Org.