Onchosaurus

Onchosaurus is an extinct genus of sclerorhynchoid fish from the Late Cretaceous (84.9 to 66.043 million years ago). Its fossils have been found in the Cretaceous sediments of Egypt, Brazil, Congo, Morocco, France, Niger, Japan, Colombia, Chile,^[1] Peru and the United States.^[2]

Onchosaurus Temporal range: Late Cretaceous, 84.9–66.043 Ma PreꞒ Ꞓ O S D C P T J K Pg N
Fossil vertebrae of Onchosaurus marocanus from Khouribga (Morocco)
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Chondrichthyes
Subclass:	Elasmobranchii
Order:	Rajiformes
Suborder:	†Sclerorhynchoidei
Genus:	†Onchosaurus Gervais, 1852
Type species
†Onchosaurus radicalis Gervais, 1852
Species
†O. marocanus Arambourg, 1935 †O. pharao (Dames, 1887) †O. radicalis Gervais. 1852 (type species)
Synonyms
Gigantichthys? Dames, 1887 Onchosaurus maroccanus Arambourg, 1935 (sic) Titanichtys pharao Dames, 1887 Ischyrhiza iwakiensis Uyeno & Hasegawa, 1986 Onchosaurus iwakiensis Suárez & Cappetta, 2004 Onchopristis pharao Martill & Ibrahim, 2012

Description

These sclerorhynchid sawskates are only known by isolated vertebra and rostral spines. On the basis of fossil findings they are considered large, bottom-dwelling fishes, mainly inhabiting shallow marine habitats, but they were also powerful swimmers.^[3]

Species

Species within this genus include:^[2][4][5]

• Onchosaurus marocanus Arambourg, 1935
• Onchosaurus pharao (Dames, 1887)
• Onchosaurus radicalis Gervais, 1852