One of the larger ichthyosaurs, Ophthalmosaurus was more
than 3rn/10ft long. (Some ichthyosaurs reached huge sizes,
in excess of 15rn/SOft in Iength.) The genus was named after
its remarkable distinguishing feature - its huge eyes. Each
eyeball was more than lOcrn/4in across and was housed in a
large orbit whose deepest recess almost touched that of the
orbit in the other side of the animal's skull. Around the orbit
was a ring arrangement of rectangular to wedge-shaped