Sclerorhynchoidei is an extinct suborder of rajiform

rays Ray may refer to: Fish * Ray (fish), any cartilaginous fish of the superorder Batoidea * Ray (fish fin anatomy), a bony or horny spine on a fin Science and mathematics * Ray (geometry), half of a line proceeding from an initial point * Ray (gra ...

that had long

rostra The rostra ( it, Rostri, links=no) was a large platform built in the city of Rome that stood during the republican and imperial periods. Speakers would stand on the rostra and face the north side of the comitium towards the senate house and de ...

with large denticles similar to sawfishes and sawsharks. This feature was

convergently evolved Convergent evolution is the independent evolution of similar features in species of different periods or epochs in time. Convergent evolution creates analogous structures that have similar form or function but were not present in the last com ...

and their closest living relatives are actually skates. While they are often called "sawfishes", sawskates is a more accurate common name for sclerorhynchoids. The suborder contains five named families: Ganopristidae, Ischyrhizidae, Onchopristidae, Ptychotrygonidae, and Schizorhizidae. Several genera (see below) are not currently placed in any of these families. Sclerorhynchoids first appeared in the

Barremian The Barremian is an age in the geologic timescale (or a chronostratigraphic stage) between 129.4 ± 1.5 Ma (million years ago) and 121.4 ± 1.0 Ma). It is a subdivision of the Early Cretaceous Epoch (or Lower Cretaceous Series). It is precede ...

and went extinct during the

Cretaceous–Paleogene extinction event The Cretaceous–Paleogene (K–Pg) extinction event (also known as the Cretaceous–Tertiary extinction) was a sudden mass extinction of three-quarters of the plant and animal species on Earth, approximately 66 million years ago. With the ...

, with former

Paleocene The Paleocene, ( ) or Palaeocene, is a geological epoch that lasted from about 66 to 56 million years ago (mya). It is the first epoch of the Paleogene Period in the modern Cenozoic Era. The name is a combination of the Ancient Greek ''pal ...

occurrences being misidentifications or reworked specimens.

Phylogeny

Below is a cladogram of Sclerorhynchoidei, with the topology based on Villalobos-Segura ''et al.'' (2021b) and the family taxonomy based on Greenfield (2021).

Other genera

*†''

Agaleorhynchus ''Agaleorhynchus'' is an extinct genus of Sclerorhynchidae from the Cretaceous period. It is named after Professor Andy Gale, in recognition of his work on Cretaceous chalk stratigraphy. It is known from a single species, ''A. britannicus'', w ...

'' *†''

Ankistrorhynchus ''Ankistrorhynchus'' is an extinct genus of sawfish-like shark from the Cretaceous Period. It is known only isolated rostral teeth from two species. ''A. lonzeensis'' is named for its type locality of Lonzée, Belgium. It is from the lower Sant ...

'' *†''

Archingeayia ''Archingeayia'' is an extinct genus of Sclerorhynchiformes, sawfish-like shark from the Cretaceous period. The name is derived from the type locale of the type species: Archingeay, Archingeay−Les Nouillers, France. This genus is known current ...

'' *†'' Atlanticopristis'' *†''

Australopristis ''Australopristis'' is an extinct genus of sawfish from the late Cretaceous epoch. Its name is derived from the Latin for "southern" and the Greek for "saw". It is known from a single species, ''A. wiffeni'' named for the late prominent fossil h ...

'' *†'' Baharipristis'' *†''

Biropristis ''Biropristis'' is an extinct genus of sawfish-like shark from the Late Cretaceous epoch of the Cretaceous period. The genus is named in honor of Dr. Lajos Biró-Bagózcky who studied the formation in which it was found. It is known from a sin ...

'' *†'' Borodinopristis'' *†'' Celtipristis'' *†'' Columbusia'' *†'' Ctenopristis'' *†'' Dalpiazia'' *†'' Harranahynchus'' *†'' Iberotrygon'' *†'' Kiestus'' *†'' Marckgrafia'' *†''

Onchosaurus ''Onchosaurus'' is an extinct genus of sclerorhynchid sawfish from the Late Cretaceous The Late Cretaceous (100.5–66 Ma) is the younger of two epochs into which the Cretaceous Period is divided in the geologic time scale. Rock strata fro ...

'' *†'' Plicatopristis'' *†'' Pucapristis'' *†'' Renpetia'' *† Sao Khua sclerorhynchoid

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q25095431 Sclerorhynchoidei