7" Sawfish Fossil Rostrum Barbs Onchopristis Numidus Cretaceous Dinosaur Era COA

Location: Oued Zem, Morocco

Weight: 11.1 Ounces

Dimensions: 7 Inches Long, 4.6 Inches Wide, 0.6 Inches Thick 

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The item pictured is the one you will receive.

Cretaceous Dinosaur Era, 100 million years ago.

Onchopristis was a giant sawfish that lived in the oceans during the Upper Cretaceous Period, with many fossils found in the Sahara Desert. This species is notable for its long, 2.5-meter rostrum lined with sharp barbs, resembling a large saw—hence its name, which means "Giant Saw." Onchopristis primarily fed on crustaceans, using its rostrum to dig them out of shallow waters, similar to modern sawfish. Although it lived in the ocean, fossil evidence shows that schools of Onchopristis migrated into freshwater rivers to breed, where females laid eggs safer from predators. However, during this migration, adults faced threats like the Spinosaurus, which hunted them. Fossils often show puncture marks from Spinosaurus attacks, and in rare cases, a barb from Onchopristis was found lodged in a spinosaurid’s jaw. To survive these dangerous breeding migrations, Onchopristis depended on large numbers to withstand losses from predators and environmental challenges like drought.