Most sea reptiles return to the land to give birth, but the prehistoric ophthalmosaurus gave birth to live young, which frees the adults from the need to leave water. The BBC brought this to life in its 1999 series Walking with Dinosaurs, which takes us back hundreds of millions of years to show us the harsh reality of ophthalmosaurus births.
A single female ophthalmosaurus had between two and five pups. Because they were air-breathing reptiles, the young had to be born tail-first – otherwise they risked drowning in the time it took them to leave their mother during the birthing process.
The newly born pups had just a few seconds to reach the surface and take their first breath, a risky entry into the world.
Plus, there were predators everywhere – and pups were even vulnerable to adult ophthalmosaurus, which may have eaten them to increase the chance of survival for their own pups. It really was an ophthalmosaurus-eat-ophthalmosaurus world.
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Top image: Ophthalmosaurus discus, a prehistoric animal from the Late Jurassic period (credit: Getty Images)