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SCLERORHYNCHUS
(scler-o-rin-kuss)
meaning: "hard snout"
Sclerorhynchus
Named By: Woodwood in 1889
Time Period: Late Cretaceous
Location: USA and the Middle East
Size: Up to 1 meter long
Diet: Carnivore
Fossil(s): Several specimens
Classification: | Chordata | Chondrichthyes | Elasmobranchii | Batoidea | Sclerorhynchoidea | Sclerorhynchidae |
About

Sclerorhynchus is an extinct genus of primitive batoidean that lived in the Cretaceous. The namesake of the Mesozoic suborder Sclerorhynchoidea, it is not quite clear whether they were closer to the Rajiformes (skates and rays) or to the Pristiformes (sawfishes). Its fossils have been found mainly around the Mediterranean region. The related Ganopristis might actually belong in Sclerorhynchus.

Sclerorhynchus was about 1 metre (3.3 ft) long, and looked somewhat like a modern sawfish, having a long snout with tooth-like serrations along the sides. In other respects, it looked like a flattened shark with enlarged, wing-like pectoral fins. It probably used these to glide over the ocean floor, propelled by its tail, weeding out shrimps, shellfish and flounders from the sand with its long snout.

Read more about Sclerorhynchus at Wikipedia
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