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Looking for Donation of Sawfish Fossils


PkRangerJ

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Hey! I didn't know if anyone knows the best places to collect or look for Onchopristis rostrum fossils and Sclerorhynchidae fossils.

 

I work at a National Park that protects pretty much the last remaining population of smalltooth sawfish and was looking to try to get my hands on a fossil specimen of each or see if people wanted to potentially donate a specimen of each to the park to help tell the story of this incredible critically endangered animal. If you or anyone you know is willing to help in sending me in the right direction on excivating, searching, purchasing, or donating please give me any pointers! Thanks to everyone on here for the help!

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Complete rostrums or complete body fossils would be extremely expensive.  :unsure: 

You can buy the Rostral teeth online at many on-line retailers. 

Good luck. 

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Sawfish barbs are regularly available from various online sellers. Try searching "Onchopristis tooth sale" in google. You should get multiple results within a reasonable price range. Complete rostrums are not common, but I have seen a few partial rostrums available for sale. Unfortunately, even partial rostrums are usually very pricey. Are you looking for a specific species or just sawfish fossils in general?

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On 11/20/2019 at 8:27 AM, PkRangerJ said:

 

Hey! I didn't know if anyone knows the best places to collect or look for Onchopristis rostrum fossils and Sclerorhynchidae fossils.

 

I work at a National Park that protects pretty much the last remaining population of smalltooth sawfish and was looking to try to get my hands on a fossil specimen of each or see if people wanted to potentially donate a specimen of each to the park to help tell the story of this incredible critically endangered animal. If you or anyone you know is willing to help in sending me in the right direction on excivating, searching, purchasing, or donating please give me any pointers! Thanks to everyone on here for the help!

 

Hi PkRangerJ,

 

The smalltooth sawfish is not related to sclerorhynchids which died out at the end of the Cretaceous.  They would be considered sawfishes in only the most general sense because they have the same unusual adaptation as the sawfishes we see today (something sclerorhynchids, modern sawfishes, and sawsharks share though each has a separated evolutionary history).  The modern smalltooth is a pristid which does have fossil relatives back to the Early Eocene at least.  I don't think I've ever seen a fossil rostrum or even a piece of one of a pristid.  You can find fossil pristid rostral spines at sites in Florida (Miocene), South Carolina (Oligocene), and Morocco (Early Eocene).

 

I realize you probably know all that already but wanted to make sure I made it clear to anyone unfamiliar with sawfishes reading this thread.  The modern species are becoming increasingly rare wherever they still survive.  A couple of years ago, I watched an episode of "River Monsters" about sawfishes in Australia.  The host had a hard time finding one to film.  I think it was in the Fitzroy River that they found one. 

 

Too many people want a rostrum with spines as a decoration or conversation piece.  Years ago, I thought about buying one for my collection.  Despite the fact that it would be valuable to me as an amateur collector as a reference specimen, I decided not to try to get one when I learned about their shrinking geographic range.  We hear about the near-extinction of rhinos and elephants but there are so many other animals not on t-shirts nor talked about much on television that are also in dire straits. 

 

Jess

 

 

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