Ophthalmosaurus (SciiFii)

Ophthalmosaurus boggii (name meaning “Bogg's eye lizard” in Greek) is a species of ichthyosaur of the family Ophthalmosauridae that originally lived in the seas during the Middle Jurassic period (165-160 million years ago) and possibly Early Cretaceous as an extinct species of Ophthalmosaurus and was once extinct, but has since been brought back from extinction by SciiFii and, unlike most Mesozoic-type marine reptiles, introduced throughout the modern world's oceans to help boost biodiversity. Ophthalmosaurus boggii is named after Richard Boggs, the founder of SciiFii, and is also named for its extremely large eyes which allow it to see its way around in the dark, even during the night. It has a graceful 6 meters (19.5 feet) long dolphin-shaped body, and its almost toothless jaw is well adapted for catching fish and squid. Ophthalmosaurus boggii has a body shaped like a tear-drop and a caudal fin like a half-moon. Its forelimbs are more developed than the hind ones, so its front fins do the steering while the tail is used to propel the animal through the water. Ophthalmosaurus boggii can dive for around 20 minutes. With a conservative crusing speed of 1 metre per second (3.3 ft/s) (2 metres per second (6.6 ft/s) being more often), Ophthalmosaurus boggii can reach depths of 600 metres (2,000 ft) or more during a dive, reaching the mesopelagic zone. Like other ichthyosaurs, Ophthalmosaurus boggii females give birth to its pups tail-first to avoid drowning them. The litter sizes usually ranges from two to eleven pups, although the female Ophthalmosaurus boggii can rarely give birth to as many as fifteen pups. The conservation status of Ophthalmosaurus boggii is Least Concern due to successful conservation efforts, the animal's wide range and its tolerance to many of the human activities. 
Category:Animals
Category:Species
Category:SciiFii