Rostro fish (Onchopristis numidus) Rostro, about... Lot 6

Rostro fish (Onchopristis numidus) Rostro, about 112 million years old, Morocco Fossil 54x48x28 cm Provenance: market (Italy) Conservation status. Surface area: 80%. Conservation status. Support: 80% (fractures, gaps, entrenchments, consolidation) Onchopristis is an extinct genus of sclerorhynchoids from the Cretaceous of North Africa, Europe and North America, ray-shaped fishes that had long rostrums with large sawfish-like toothed teeth and saw sharks. Its name comes from the ancient Greek ónkos (ὄγκος, "beard") and prístis (πρίστις, "saw" or "sawfish"). Two species are known, Onchopristis numida - to which thereexample in the auction belongs - and Onchopristis dunklei, considered by researchers to be a single taxonomic unit, with variations in morphology caused by the very wide range. Specimens of Onchopristis have been discovered in coastal and riverine deposits dated from the Barremian (130.5 to 125 million years ago) to the Cenomanian (99.6 to 93.6 million years ago), confirming the exceptional antiquity and longevity of the genus. The fossil, which dates to the Middle Cretaceous-Albian, was excavated in Erfoud, Kem Kem Beds in Morocco.