Explore this animal in Size of Extinct Animals ↗
316 / Mesozoic
Onchopristis
Onchopristis numidus
Barbed teeth armed a long rostrum used to sense and sweep through bottom prey.
View original image · 1536 × 1024- Time range
- About 115–95 million years ago
- Final stage
- Mid-Cretaceous
- Geographic range
- Estuaries and rivers · North Africa
01 / DEFINITION & ECOLOGY
What was Onchopristis?
Onchopristis (Onchopristis numidus) was an extinct organism known from About 115–95 million years ago, with a range in Estuaries and rivers · North Africa.
Life and ecology
This sclerorhynchoid ray entered river systems shared with Spinosaurus.
02 / DISAPPEARANCE
Why did Onchopristis disappear?
Changing river and estuary systems are possible context, but the fossil record does not establish why the lineage disappeared.
03 / EVIDENCE
How do scientists know about Onchopristis?
Rostra, hooked rostral teeth and vertebrae provide most of the evidence.
04 / SOURCES & FURTHER READING
Check the source record
Use the scientific name to compare taxonomy, occurrence records and the fossil record. Database coverage and classifications may differ.
05 / REVISION HISTORY
How has this record changed?
- Rewrote an extinction cause that presented environmental or faunal turnover as established; it is now given as context the record does not prove.
- Verified authoritative entity sources and added three responsive reconstruction sizes.
- Initial bilingual species record published.
06 / CORRECTIONS & ADDITIONS