Length 0.72 inches 18.8mm
Date found 11th October 2017
Location Kem Kem beds, Morocco, Lat 30; 56; 717N Lon 3; 53; 789W
This is a beautiful example of a rostral barb from Onchopristis Numidus with exceptional enamel, while not the largest available from this formation is of high quality and will ensure a great addition to any collection.
There is no restoration or repair to this rostral barb, this fossil along with all of our fossils, has been consolidated with Paraloid B-72, which is a standard between personal collectors and museums.
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.