mattbsharks Posted January 25, 2018 Share Posted January 25, 2018 Hi everyone, I was hoping to gain more info about this saw shark on matrix from morocco. It is from a very reliable moroccan exporter who picked it up from quarry workers himself. 100% natural. I had never even heard of the existence of fossils of these before this. I'd love to hear about the rarity of specimens like this and if people are aware of value of these a PM would be much appreciated. Thanks for looking. Not really sure what sub forum to put this into. The white long bone is the bill of the shark with 1000s of teeth around it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mattbsharks Posted January 25, 2018 Author Share Posted January 25, 2018 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mattbsharks Posted January 25, 2018 Author Share Posted January 25, 2018 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mattbsharks Posted January 25, 2018 Author Share Posted January 25, 2018 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mattbsharks Posted January 25, 2018 Author Share Posted January 25, 2018 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mattbsharks Posted January 25, 2018 Author Share Posted January 25, 2018 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
doushantuo Posted January 25, 2018 Share Posted January 25, 2018 Onchopristis, Ischyrhiza, Schizorhiza, Squatina atavus ...(Libanopristis) 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Troodon Posted January 25, 2018 Share Posted January 25, 2018 Check out Schizorhiza stromeri. The teeth are commonly available but if you have a mortality plate it's extremely rare. Your specimen looks very nice. Let me add that rarity does not necessarily equate to price. One off specimens don't carry a known market value it's whatever the seller wants and you are willing to pay. 7 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
izak_ Posted January 25, 2018 Share Posted January 25, 2018 Very nice fossil Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nimravis Posted January 25, 2018 Share Posted January 25, 2018 Very nice plate. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Anomotodon Posted January 25, 2018 Share Posted January 25, 2018 This is an extremely amazing and unique specimen, congratulations!!! It is definitely Schizorhiza stromeri, an enigmatic Sclerorhynchid sawfish, you can read more here 4 The Tooth Fairy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sixgill pete Posted January 25, 2018 Share Posted January 25, 2018 Fantastic piece. Bulldozers and dirt Bulldozers and dirt behind the trailer, my desert Them red clay piles are heaven on earth I get my rocks off, bulldozers and dirt Patterson Hood; Drive-By Truckers May 2016 May 2012 Aug 2013, May 2016, Apr 2020 Oct 2022 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RJB Posted January 25, 2018 Share Posted January 25, 2018 A really neato piece!!! RB Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
siteseer Posted January 26, 2018 Share Posted January 26, 2018 22 hours ago, Anomotodon said: This is an extremely amazing and unique specimen, congratulations!!! It is definitely Schizorhiza stromeri, an enigmatic Sclerorhynchid sawfish, you can read more here Yes, that is an important point to make. Schizorhiza is a sawfish - not a sawshark. It belongs to the group of sawfishes that died out at the end of the Cretaceous. The sawfishes we see alive today belong to a separate group that evolved in the Late Paleocene-Early Eocene. Schizorhiza is an uncommon find even as a single rostral tooth - most often seen from Morocco but also from Niger. A friend once sent me a small group of rostral teeth still locked together. I've seen a couple of specimens with several teeth in a row but nothing like the one in this thread. Something like that might reside in a museum or large private collection. Even as rare and spectacular as it is, it might not get a big price because it's a sawfish - not a shark or dinosaur. It would sell only to someone who already knows it's a Schizorhiza and how rare something like that is. 6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Anomotodon Posted January 26, 2018 Share Posted January 26, 2018 42 minutes ago, siteseer said: Yes, that is an important point to make. Schizorhiza is a sawfish - not a sawshark. It belongs to the group of sawfishes that died out at the end of the Cretaceous. The sawfishes we see alive today belong to a separate group that evolved in the Late Paleocene-Early Eocene. Schizorhiza is an uncommon find even as a single rostral tooth - most often seen from Morocco but also from Niger. A friend once sent me a small group of rostral teeth still locked together. I've seen a couple of specimens with several teeth in a row but nothing like the one in this thread. Something like that might reside in a museum or large private collection. Even as rare and spectacular as it is, it might not get a big price because it's a sawfish - not a shark or dinosaur. It would sell only to someone who already knows it's a Schizorhiza and how rare something like that is. Unfortunately, still don't have a Schizorhiza tooth Although, I absolutely love Sclerorhynchid teeth. By the way, I wonder why "saw" is such an efficient structure, that it appeared at least three times independently and twice they reached really large sizes? Firstly Pristiophorids (sawsharks), then Sclerorhynchids, then Pristids. And the tooth morphology is also different between these taxa - sawshark and sclerorhynchid teeth seem to be attached to the rostrum via their wide roots, while pristid teeth reside in deeper alveoli (more advanced?). However, in general it seems like a very specialized structure. Is swiping a saw into schools of fish or crustaceans several times and then attempting to pick it up really that much more efficient than just chasing and catching them? The Tooth Fairy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
siteseer Posted January 26, 2018 Share Posted January 26, 2018 2 minutes ago, Anomotodon said: Unfortunately, still don't have a Schizorhiza tooth Although, I absolutely love Sclerorhynchid teeth. By the way, I wonder why a "saw" is such an efficient structure, that it appeared at least three times independently and twice they reached really large sizes? Firstly Pristiophorids (sawsharks), then Sclerorhynchids, then Pristids. And the tooth morphology is also different between these taxa - sawshark and sclerorhynchid teeth seem to be attached to the rostrum via their wide roots, while pristid teeth reside in deeper alveoli. However it seems like a very specialized structure. Is swiping a saw into schools of fish or crustaceans several times and then attempting to pick it up really more efficient than just chasing and catching them? One of the online dealers like Steve Alter should be able to get one for you especially since he buys and sells at Tucson. Yes, I've wondered about that too - the same unusual weapon developing among three unrelated families and yet still among chondrichthyans. Why didn't it develop among earlier groups? I can only assume that it had to do with the radiation of bony fishes during the Mesozoic and again in the early Cenozoic. Perhaps these were times when densely-schooling fishes became common. It opened a niche for a predator that could change toward a way to stun/injure several fish in the shortest amount of time possible for easy capture rather than run them down one at a time which would be more of an energy expenditure per fish.. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Anomotodon Posted January 26, 2018 Share Posted January 26, 2018 2 minutes ago, siteseer said: Yes, I've wondered about that too - the same unusual weapon developing among three unrelated families and yet still among chondrichthyans. Why didn't it develop among earlier groups? I can only assume that it had to do with the radiation of bony fishes during the Mesozoic and again in the early Cenozoic. Perhaps these were times when densely-schooling fishes became common. It opened a niche for a predator that could change toward a way to stun/injure several fish in the shortest amount of time possible for easy capture rather than run them down one at a time which would be more of an energy expenditure per fish.. That makes sense... But Sclerorhynchids appearance in Barremian coincided with the major neoselachian radiation, which in turn coincided with a series of Early Cretaceous ocean anoxic events. And chondricthyans are far more resistant to anoxia than average bony fishes in part because of their reproductive strategy. I think this is one of the primary reasons for Cretaceous selachian radiation (appearance of lamnoids, carcharhiniforms, batoid diversification, etc.). Therefore I am not sure that in Cretaceous there were much more schools of fish than in Jurassic. Not sure about Eocene though, Pristids seem to appear very suddenly in the fossil record. 2 The Tooth Fairy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ludwigia Posted January 26, 2018 Share Posted January 26, 2018 2 hours ago, siteseer said: It would sell only to someone who already knows it's a Schizorhiza and how rare something like that is. Then I guess I wouldn't have bought this before I saw this thread Man, are you guys here knowledgeable! Fantastic catch, @mattbsharks 1 Greetings from the Lake of Constance. Roger http://www.steinkern.de/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AncientEarth Posted December 21, 2019 Share Posted December 21, 2019 This is one of my specimens, glad you all enjoyed it so much. It came with about a dozen smaller jacketed pieces that were found around the larger specimen, including the tip of the rostrum and more verts/teeth. I believe this came back with me after a trip in 2014. That year the workers in the quarry said several had been found, which was uncommon as normally it's a one off. The specimen Troodon posted was from the Aaronson's and sold for quite a respectable price in Tucson 2015. That year my container was late to arrive for the Tucson show and didn't actually deliver until almost a whole month later. I showed this once in 2016, had in a friends booth, but it was hidden in the back. Been in storage ever since. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AncientEarth Posted January 18, 2020 Share Posted January 18, 2020 If anyone wants to see this specimen in person, I will be showing it this year in Tucson. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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