Dinosaur vision

Troodon had the best sense of vision among all dinosaurs

Dinosaurs, among reptiles, have the best vision. Large carnosaurs rarely had well-developed optic lobe. Coelurosaurs, on the other hand, had good stereoscopic or binocular vision.

Theropoda

Carnosauria

Most Carnosaurs, including Carcharodontosaurus^[1] and Allosaurus, did not have a very good sense of vision, and their senses were comparable to modern alligators'^[2]. They possessed binocular vision which was restricted to a region only 20° wide, which is understandable, seeing as they hunted mostly large and slow prey. Their keen sense was probably smell.

Deinoinychosauria

Deinonychosaurs, like Troodon^[2] and Deinonychus, had more powerful vision than allosauroidea. Their binocular field was up to 60°^[2]. Some palaeontologists theorize that they could also have night vision.

Tyrannosauridae

Among coelurosauria tyrannosauroidea have the best eyesight^[2]. The position of their eyes tells that they had very well developed sense of vision.

We know that Tyrannosaurus rex's position of the eyes were similar to that of modern humans. But their eyes and optic lobe were much larger than that of modern humans. T-rex, apart from most of the dinosaurs, had a combination of powerful eyesight and great sense of smell.

Ceratosauria

Ceratosaurs, the most primitive theropods, had eyes placed closer to the side. This widened their field of vision, but decreased their depth perception.

Pachycephalosaurs

The strangest thing about vision of pachycephalosaurs, is that they have depth perception(see link 1). Most of plant-eaters have eyes on the sides of their heads. This helps them to quickly see a predator.

References

1. ^ P.Larsson (2001). Endocranial anatomy of Carcharodontosaurus saharicus. Indiana University Press.. ISBN ?. 
2. ^ ^{a b c d} KENT A. STEVENS (2006). BINOCULAR VISION IN THEROPOD DINOSAURS. University of Oregon. ISBN ?. 

External links

• [Interactive Dracorex | skull http://prehistoricplanet.com/features/dracorex/]
• Dinosaur senses in Australian Museum
• Dinosaur vision BBC, 10 December 2010.