Pristiophorus

Pristiophorus is a genus of sawsharks found in the Pacific, Atlantic and Indian oceans. Members of this genus differ from sixgill sawsharks of the genus Pliotrema in having five gill slits. Their rostral sawteeth lack prominent transverse ridges on the basal ledges, and the large teeth are not posteriorly serrated.

Pristiophorus

タウナギ · CC0 · 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
PristiophoridaePBDB
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 8 of 144 occurrencesLate CretaceousPaleocene — about 0 of 144 occurrencesEocene — about 37 of 144 occurrencesEoceneOligocene — about 19 of 144 occurrencesOligoceneMiocene — about 58 of 144 occurrencesMiocenePliocene — about 18 of 144 occurrencesPleistocene — about 4 of 144 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 occurrences58–55 Mya — about 0.1 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 10 occurrences35–32 Mya — about 7 occurrences32–29 Mya — about 5 occurrences29–26 Mya — about 6 occurrences26–23 Mya — about 5 occurrences23–20 Mya — about 6 occurrences20–17 Mya — about 11 occurrences17–15 Mya — about 10 occurrences15–12 Mya — about 16 occurrences12–8.7 Mya — about 5 occurrences8.7–5.8 Mya — about 8 occurrences5.8–2.9 Mya — about 18 occurrences2.9–0 Mya — about 6 occurrences83.6 Mya2.58 Mya87 Mya0 Mya

144 occurrences of Pristiophorus 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

144 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

65 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°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°EMilburn Limestone — 46.07°S, 170.00°ESubmeseta — 64.23°S, 56.60°WSenhata — 35.16°N, 139.86°EKokoamu Greensand — 44.87°S, 170.71°EKokoamu Greensand — 43.39°S, 171.27°EBahía Inglesa — 27.72°S, 70.99°WBahía Inglesa — 27.16°S, 70.89°WKattendijk — 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°ETangahoe — 39.58°S, 174.28°EJewett — 35.49°N, 118.85°WPisco — 15.44°S, 74.87°WPungo River — 35.40°N, 76.80°W

Loading coastlines…

The named rock units Pristiophorus has been recovered from, largest first. Drawn where the rock is now, not where it formed. 41 further formations hold fewer occurrences each and are not listed. 35 occurrences have no formation on record, which is common for older literature.

Pristiophorus and its relatives

Miocene

Where Pristiophorus and its relatives were recorded in the Miocene.

Found in the same rock

1,189 taxa

The Paleobiology Database records 135 sites for Pristiophorus, 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

71 references

Each of the 144 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. 59 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 Pristiophorus

Credit
タウナギ
Licence
CC0
Commercial use
the licence allows it

No 3D scan of Pristiophorus was found in Sketchfab.

Smithsonian Open Access and MorphoSource were 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 itPristiophoridae through timeFormations of the MioceneThe world it lived on

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