Rostrate fish (Onchopristis numidus) Skeleton,... Lot 49

Rostrate fish (Onchopristis numidus) Skeleton, approximately 90-110 million years old, Morocco Fossil 194x70x7 cm Provenance: market (Italy) Conservation status. Surface area: 60%. Conservation status. Support: 60% (fragmentary condition, gaps; consolidation; matrix partially reproduced with original sediment amalgam) 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 teeth and sawfish-like 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 was excavated in the Kem Kem beds, Morocco.