Length 3.12 inches 79.2mm
Date Obtained August 2020
Location Kem Kem beds, Begga, Morocco
Age 96 million years, Cenomanian, Cretaceous
This is a large Onchopristis rostral barb, about as large as they get, with nice red-brown enamel. It would be a great addition to a fish, shark or Kem Kem Beds collection
All our fossils are consolidated with paraloid b72, to preserve for future generations as is standard procedure within all museums. No repair or restoration to this fossil.
Onchopristis Numidus, is known in numbers from the kem kem beds and is a large member of the Sclerorhynchidae genus. Believed to have migrated to the fresh waters on the Kem kem beds for breeding purposes, and possibly giving evidence to why a number of smaller rostral barbs and rostrums are present in the fossil record form the formation. With a full grown adults rostrum measuring in at over 2 meters long, and barbs occurring every 2 to 3 cm. This is believed to have been an essential part of the ecosystem providing food for the large spinosauridae dinosaurs found in this time period.
The Kem Kem Beds of Morocco date to the middle of the Cretaceous Period and seem to preserve an unusual delta ecosystem with a high proportion of carnivores, including Spinosaurus, Carcharodontosaurus, two abelisaurids, Deltadromeus and an abundance of crocodylomorphs, in addition to many species of freshwater fish. Herbivorous dinosaurs seem to consist almost entirely of sauropods and some paleontologists believe that aquatic prey served the base of the predatory food chain.