Pristiophoridae

A sawshark or saw shark is a member of a shark order bearing a unique long, saw-like rostrum edged with sharp teeth, which they use to slash and disable their prey. There are ten species within the Pristiophoriformes, the longnose or common sawshark, shortnose sawshark, Japanese sawshark, Bahamas sawshark, Warren's sixgill sawshark, Anna's sixgill sawshark, Kaja's sixgill sawshark, African dwarf sawshark, Lana's sawshark and the tropical sawshark.

Pristiophoridae

Illustrated Catalogue of the Fishes of South Australia, Adelaide, Australia : G. Hassell & Son, 1921 · Public Domain · via Wikipedia/Commons. May be a photograph of a specimen, or an artist’s reconstruction — an interpretation of a skeleton, since colour and soft tissue are almost never preserved.

On record

Recorded, not inferred
Sits inside
PristiophoriformesPBDB
Diet
carnivorePBDB, for Pristiophoriformes
Life habit
nektobenthicPBDB, for Pristiophoriformes
Motility
actively mobilePBDB, for Pristiophoriformes

Time the record covers

At least 81 million years on record.

The record covers at least 83.6 Mya to 2.58 Mya. No occurrence read is dated outside 85.7 Mya to 774 ka.

Late Cretaceous — about 9 of 159 occurrencesLate CretaceousPaleocene — about 1 of 159 occurrencesPaleoceneEocene — about 38 of 159 occurrencesEoceneOligocene — about 21 of 159 occurrencesOligoceneMiocene — about 63 of 159 occurrencesMiocenePliocene — about 22 of 159 occurrencesPleistocene — about 4 of 159 occurrences87–84 Mya — about 0.6 occurrences84–82 Mya — about 1 occurrence82–79 Mya — about 1 occurrence79–76 Mya — about 1 occurrence76–73 Mya — about 1 occurrence73–70 Mya — about 1 occurrence70–67 Mya — about 1 occurrence67–64 Mya — about 0.5 occurrences61–58 Mya — about 0.3 occurrences58–55 Mya — about 0.8 occurrences55–52 Mya — about 0.6 occurrences52–50 Mya — about 0.6 occurrences50–47 Mya — about 1 occurrence47–44 Mya — about 2 occurrences44–41 Mya — about 4 occurrences41–38 Mya — about 14 occurrences38–35 Mya — about 11 occurrences35–32 Mya — about 7 occurrences32–29 Mya — about 5 occurrences29–26 Mya — about 6 occurrences26–23 Mya — about 6 occurrences23–20 Mya — about 7 occurrences20–17 Mya — about 12 occurrences17–15 Mya — about 11 occurrences15–12 Mya — about 16 occurrences12–8.7 Mya — about 6 occurrences8.7–5.8 Mya — about 9 occurrences5.8–2.9 Mya — about 22 occurrences2.9–0 Mya — about 6 occurrences83.6 Mya2.58 Mya87 Mya0 Mya

159 occurrences of Pristiophoridae on record, most of them in the Miocene. The Paleobiology Database records this as a living group, and the chart stops with its fossils rather than at the present. Bar height is expected occurrences, not a count: each fossil is spread across the span it is dated to, so a tall narrow bar means tight dating and a low wide one means loose.

When

159 occurrences

These are dates about fossils, not the animal: the record can only begin after it arose and end before it died out, so either end may reach further. Shares are expected occurrences: a fossil dated to a span is counted partly in each period it straddles. More on what this infers.

Found in

71 formations

La Meseta — 64.24°S, 56.65°WLa Meseta — 64.24°S, 56.60°WHorcón — 32.70°S, 71.46°WGehannam — 29.33°N, 30.08°EGehannam — 29.30°N, 30.05°EBoom Clay — 51.13°N, 4.26°EBoom Clay — 51.12°N, 4.35°EBoom Clay — 51.19°N, 4.32°ELaksarska Nova Ves — 48.59°N, 17.38°EBahía Inglesa — 27.72°S, 70.99°WBahía Inglesa — 26.22°S, 70.72°WBahía Inglesa — 27.16°S, 70.89°WMilburn Limestone — 46.07°S, 170.00°EArgille Azzurre — 44.72°N, 10.08°EArgille Azzurre — 43.31°N, 11.49°EArgille Azzurre — 44.21°N, 11.82°ENorthumberland — 49.55°N, 124.70°WNorthumberland — 49.54°N, 124.71°WNavidad — 33.91°S, 71.85°WNavidad — 33.94°S, 71.86°WNeuhofen — 48.50°N, 14.28°ETangahoe — 39.58°S, 174.28°ESubmeseta — 64.23°S, 56.60°WOamaru — 43.23°S, 171.72°ESenhata — 35.16°N, 139.86°EKokoamu Greensand — 44.87°S, 170.71°EKokoamu Greensand — 43.39°S, 171.27°EKattendijk — 51.26°N, 4.27°EMishash — 30.87°N, 34.94°ESan Mateo — 33.20°N, 117.37°WLoxton — 34.15°S, 139.91°EBatesford Limestone — 38.09°S, 144.28°EBlack Rock Sandstone — 37.99°S, 145.04°EJewett — 35.49°N, 118.85°WPisco — 15.44°S, 74.87°W

Loading coastlines…

The named rock units Pristiophoridae has been recovered from, largest first. Drawn where the rock is now, not where it formed. 47 further formations hold fewer occurrences each and are not listed. 39 occurrences have no formation on record, which is common for older literature.

Pristiophoridae and its relatives

Miocene

Where Pristiophoridae and its relatives were recorded in the Miocene.

Found in the same rock

1,296 taxa

The Paleobiology Database records 145 sites for Pristiophoridae, and this reads all of them. The number is how many of those sites it was catalogued from too. The 24 sharing the most are listed.

This is not a list of everything alive at the time. It is only what has come out of the same ground as this animal and been written down.

Entered from

76 references

Each of the 159 occurrences read was entered from one of these publications, ordered by how many each accounts for. This is not a search for papers mentioning the name. 64 further references are not listed. Entries link to doi.org where the Paleobiology Database holds an identifier, and to its own record where it does not. Relayed as the Paleobiology Database holds them, not checked against what they resolve to.

Media and terms

Media content1

Picture of Pristiophoridae

Credit
Illustrated Catalogue of the Fishes of South Australia, Adelaide, Australia : G. Hassell & Son, 1921
Licence
Public Domain
Commercial use
the licence allows it

No 3D scan of Pristiophoridae was found in MorphoSource and Sketchfab.

Smithsonian Open Access was not reached for this taxon, so this list is what the others held rather than everything there is.

The description on this site

Licence
CC BY-SA 4.0

This is what the site found, which is not the same as what exists.

Keep going

What may have been alongside itPristiophoriformes through timeFormations of the MioceneThe world it lived on

Occurrence data from the Paleobiology Database, CC BY 4.0. Bleeker 1859