Sclerorhynchus

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Sclerorhynchus
Fossil range: Late Cretaceous
Conservation status
Extinct (fossil)
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Chondrichthyes
Subclass: Elasmobranchii
Superorder: Batoidea
Order: Rajiformes
Family: Rajidae
Genus: Sclerorhynchus
Sclerorhynchus
Type ray
Length 3 ft 4 in (1 m)
Movement swimming
Age 70 million years ago
Diet carnivore
Environment ocean floor
Distribution Morocco, Lebanon and USA

Sclerorhynchus is an extinct genus of primitive skate that lived in the Cretaceous.

Despite being a skate, it looked more like a sawfish, having a long snouth with tooth-like serrations lining the sides. Physically it looked like a somewhat 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.