Sclerorhynchus
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Sclerorhynchus |
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Extinct (fossil)
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Scientific classification | ||||||||||||||||
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Sclerorhynchus | |
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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.