Sclerorhynchus
genus of fishes (fossil)
Sclerorhynchus (from Greek: σκληρός scleros, 'hard' and Greek: ῥύγχος rhynchos 'snout') is an extinct genus of ganopristid sclerorhynchoid that lived during the Late Cretaceous. The genus Ganopristis is considered a junior synonym of Sclerorhynchus. It was a widespread genus, with fossils found in the Middle East (S. atavus, S. karakensis), North Africa (S. leptodon), Europe (S. leptodon), and North America (S. fanninensis, S. pettersi, S. priscus). While it had a long rostrum with large denticles similar to sawfishes and sawsharks, its closest living relatives are actually skates. Complete specimens of S. atavus show that its fin arrangement was similar to skates, with the pectoral and pelvic fins touching, both dorsal fins located behind the pelvic fins, and a reduced caudal fin.
“Sclerorhynchus” enters the record as genus of fishes (fossil). Crown Archives preserves that source wording while asking what Sclerorhynchus, genus and fishes can confirm, complicate or overturn.
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This entry incorporates text from “Sclerorhynchus” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.