Eurhinosaurus | Facts & Information

The seas of the Mesozoic era, from the Lower Jurassic period, were populated by numerous species of ichthyosaurs. Among them was Eurhinosaurus longirostris-described in 1909 by paleontologist Roberto Abel based on fossil remains discovered in Germany, dating from 150 million years ago.

The researchers studied the snout of this ichthyosaur and made different assumptions about why they were not the same size, but they could not give a clear explanation, but only hypothesize that the upper jaw much longer than the lower one was used to scour the sea floor for fish hidden among aquatic plants and rock crevices.

Eurhinosaurus is similar in its skull shape to today's swordfish. The lower jaw was only half the length of the upper jaw. The length of the skull was 1.5 m and on the upper jaw Eurhinosaurus had numerous sharp teeth perfectly adapted for catching fish. Large and distant orbits indicate good visual acuity, his ability to see at great depths, where the light was less.

These sea creatures lived only in the aquatic environment, they swam at speed, their body was stabilized by elongated, large lateral fins, but also by the triangular-shaped dorsal fin. The coded swimmer consisted of two nearly symmetrical lobes that helped propel the animal into the water.

During the breeding season, the female gives birth to live chicks in the water, without laying eggs on land like other species. Puppies were born with their tails forward so as not to suffocate, and from the first moments of life they were very vulnerable to dangers in the depths.

They were easy prey for other marine reptiles, as well as for other adult specimens of the same species, who ate the Young of others to protect their own young. Their only advantage was their high swimming speed, and their only escape was to hide among the corals that constituted a complicated protection system.

Eurhinosaurus Food

This fast swimmer of 5 m long lived in the open sea where he skillfully hunted fish, mollusks and cephalopods – his favorite food.