In Depth
Palvennia is a genus of ophthalmosaurid ichthyosaur that is noted for having a very short rostrum. The orbit (skull opening for the eye) also seems quite large, though the original describers have noted that this may be due to the specimen being crushed while it was being fossilised. Ophthalmosaurid ichthyosaurs are noted for having large eyes however, especially when you consider that the name of the type genus of the group Ophthalmosaurus translates to English as ‘eye lizard’.
Further Reading
- Two new ophthalmosaurids (Reptilia: Ichthyosauria) from the Agardhfjellet Formation (Upper Jurassic: Volgian/Tithonian), Svalbard, Norway - Norwegian Journal of Geology 92 (2-3): 311–339. - Patrick S. Druckenmiller, J�rn H. Hurum, Espen M. Knutsen & Hans Arne Nakrem - 2012.
