Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

First record of the extinct sawfish Propristis schweinfurthi Dames, 1883 (Batoidea: Pristiformes: Pristidae) from the middle Eocene of Spain

  • Research Paper
  • Published:
Paläontologische Zeitschrift Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

A partial rostrum of Propristis schweinfurthi Dames, 1883 was collected in the Bartonian strata of northeastern Spain. The specimen represents the second record of the species from Europe, and the second occurrence of a sawfish (Mesopristis osonensis Farrés, 2003) from the Vic-Manlleu Marls Formation. In spite of some evidence to the contrary, Propristis probably preferred ecological conditions similar to extant sawfishes, i.e., inhabiting nearshore tropical to subtropical seas with occasional excursions into freshwater.

Zusammenfassung

Ein fragmentarisches Rostrum des Sägefisches Propristis schweinfurthi Dames, 1883, wurde in bartonischen Ablagerungen Nordost-Spaniens gefunden. Das Exemplar ist der zweite Nachweis dieser Art für Europa und der zweite Fund eines Sägefisches in der Vic­Manlleu Marls Formation. Trotz einiger gegensätzlicher Beweisfunde ist es wahrscheinlich, dass Propristis hauptsächlich küstennahe tropische and subtropische Meere und gelegentlich auch Süßwassergewässer besiedelte. Dies sind ökologische Anpassungen ähnlich denen, die lebende Sägefische bevorzugen.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Subscribe and save

Springer+ Basic
$34.99 /Month
  • Get 10 units per month
  • Download Article/Chapter or eBook
  • 1 Unit = 1 Article or 1 Chapter
  • Cancel anytime
Subscribe now

Buy Now

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3a–e
Fig. 4a, b

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Agassiz, L. 1833–1843. Recherches sur les poissons fossiles. Neûchatel" Petitpierre.

  • Almela, A. 1946. Manlleu, Hoja n o 294, 52 p. Madrid: Instituto Geológico y Minero de España.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bigelow, H.B., and W.C. Schroeder. 1953. Part two. Sawfishes, guitarfishes, skates, and rays. In Fishes of the Western North Atlantic: 1–514, ed. J. Tee-van, 588 pp. New Haven: Sears Foundation for Marine Research, Memoir number 1.

    Google Scholar 

  • Blot, J. 1980. La faune ichthyologique des gisements du monte Bolca (Province de Vérone, Italie). Catalogue systématique présentant l’état actuel des recherches concernant cette faune. Bulletin Muséum National d’Histoire Naturelle, Paris, Série 4, 2(1980, section C, No. 4): 339–396.

  • Bonaparte, C.L. 1838. Selachorum tabula analytica, 195–214. Bologna: Nuovi Annali della Scienza Naturali.

    Google Scholar 

  • Breard, S.Q., and G.L. Stringer. 1995. Paleoenvironment of a diverse marine vertebrate fauna from the Yazoo Clay (Late Eocene) at Copenhagen, Caldwell Parish, Louisiana. Gulf Coast Association of Geological Societies Transactions 45: 77–85.

    Google Scholar 

  • Cappetta, H. 1987. Chondrichthyes II: Mesozoic and Cenozoic Elasmobranchii. In Handbook of Palaeoichthyology, vol. 3B, ed. H.-P. Schultze, 193 pp. New York: Gustav Fischer Verlag.

    Google Scholar 

  • Cappetta, H. 2006. Fossilium Catalogus I: Animalia, pars 142. Elasmobranchii Post-Triadici (Index specierum et generum), 472 pp. Leiden: Backhuys.

    Google Scholar 

  • Case, G. 1981. Late Eocene selachians from south-central Georgia. Palaontographica Abteilung A 176: 52–79.

    Google Scholar 

  • Case, G., and H. Cappetta. 1990. The Eocene selachian fauna from the Fayum Depression in Egypt. Palaeontographica Abteilung A, Paläozoologie-Stratigraphie 212(1–6): 1–30.

    Google Scholar 

  • Casier, E. 1946. La faune ichthyologique de l’yprésien de la Belgique. Mémoires de Musée Royal d’Histoire Naturelle de Belgique 104: 1–267.

    Google Scholar 

  • Casier, E. 1949. Contributions a l’étude des poissons fossils de la Belgique. VIII. Les Pristidés éocènes. Bulletin Institut Royal des Sciences Naturelles de Belgique 25(10): 1–52.

    Google Scholar 

  • Cicimurri, D.J. 2007. A partial rostrum of the sawfish Pristis lathami Galeotti, 1837, from the Eocene of South Carolina. Journal of Paleontology 81(3): 597–601.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Dames, W. 1883. Über eine tertiäre Wirbelthierfauna von der westlichen insel des Birket-el-Qurûn im Fajum (Aegypten). Sitzungsberichte-Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften Berlin 6: 129–153.

    Google Scholar 

  • Dartevelle, E., and E. Casier. 1943. Les poissons fossiles du Bas-Congo et des régions voisines. Annals du Musée du Congo belge, Serie A, part I 2: 1–200.

    Google Scholar 

  • Dunkle, D.H. 1951. New western hemisphere occurrences of fossil selachians. Journal of the Washington Academy of Science 41(11): 344–347.

    Google Scholar 

  • Farrés, F. 2003. Mesopristis nov. gen. osonensis nov. sp., Nuevo género y especie de pez-sierra del Eoceno de Vic (Catalunya, N.E. de España). Batalleria 11(2002-03): 93–113.

    Google Scholar 

  • Farrés, F., and J. Altimiras. 2007. El género Cylindracanthus en el Eoceno de Vic (Barcelona). Batalleria 13: 37–46.

    Google Scholar 

  • Farrés, F., and J. Staid-Staadt. 1964. Las correlaciones faciales del Lediense y su fauna de moluscos en la comarca de Vich. Ausa, 42. Vic: Patronato de Estudios Ausonenses.

    Google Scholar 

  • Farrés, F., J. Vicente, and J. Altimiras. 2005. Distribución estratigráfica de la flora eocénica en la comarca de Vic (Osona) Barcelona. Batalleria 12: 75–104.

    Google Scholar 

  • Fraas, E. 1907. Säge von Propristis schweinfurthi Dames aus dem oberen Eocän von Ägypten. Neues Jahrbuch für Mineralogie und Paläontologie 1907(1): 1–6.

    Google Scholar 

  • Galeotti, H. 1837. Mémoire sur la constitution géognostique de la Brabant. Mémoire de l’Academie des Sciences de la Belgique, 4, 12 (3): 1–193.

  • Gingerich, P. 1992. Marine mammals (Cetacea and Sirenia) from the Eocene of Gebel Mokattam and Fayum, Egypt: stratigraphy, age, and paleoenvironments. University of Michigan, Papers on Paleontology no. 30: 1–84.

    Google Scholar 

  • Huxley, T. 1880. A manual of the anatomy of vertebrated animals, 431 pp. New York: D. Appleton.

    Google Scholar 

  • Jordan, D.S., and H. Hannibal. 1923. Fossil sharks and rays of the Pacific slope of North America. Southern California Academy of Sciences, Bulletin 23: 27–63.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kemp, D., L. Kemp, and D. Ward. 1990. An illustrated guide to the British Middle Eocene Vertebrates, 59 pp. London: Self published.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kent, B.W. 1999. Part 3. Rays from the Fisher/Sullivan Site. In Early Eocene vertebrates and plants from the Fisher/Sullivan Site (Nanjemoy Formation) Stafford County, Virginia, eds. R.E. Weems and G.J. Grimsley, 39–51. Virginia Division of Mineral Resources, Publication 152.

  • Kirkland, J.I., and M.C. Aguillón-Martinez. 2002. Schizorhiza: a unique sawfish paradigm from the Difunta Group, Coahuila, Mexico. Revista Mexicana de Ciencas Geológicas 19(1): 16–24.

    Google Scholar 

  • Leriche, M. 1906. Contribution a l’etude des Poissons fossiles du Nord de la France et des régions voisines. Mémoires de la Sociéte Geológique du Nord 5: 1–430.

    Google Scholar 

  • Leriche, M. 1951. Les Poissons tertiaires de la Belgique (Supplément). Mémoires du Musée Royal d’Histoire Naturelle de Belgique 118: 474–600.

    Google Scholar 

  • Linck, H.F. 1790. Versuch einer Eintheilung der Fische nach den Zähnen. Magazin für das Neueste aus der Physik und Naturgeschichte 4: 28–38.

    Google Scholar 

  • Manning, E.M. 2003. The Eocene/Oligocene transition in marine vertebrates of the Gulf Coastal Plain, Chapter 21. In From greenhouse to icehouse, the marine Eocene-Oligocene transition, ed. D.R. Prothero, L.C. Ivany, and E.A. Nesbitt, 366–385. New York: Columbia University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Manning, E.M., and B.R. Standhardt. 1986. Late Eocene sharks and rays of Montgomery Landing, Louisiana. In Montgomery Landing site, Marine Eocene (Jackson) of Central Louisiana, eds. J.A. Schiebout and W. van den Bold, 133–161. Proceedings of a Symposium, Gulf Coast Association of Geological Societies, Baton Rouge, Louisiana, 238 pp.

  • McEachran, J.D., and N. Aschiliman. 2004. Phylogeny of Batoidea. In Biology of sharks and their relatives, ed. J.C. Carrier, J.A. Musick, and M.R. Heithaus, 79–113. Boca Raton, Florida: CRC Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Mould, B. 1994. Anoxypristis cuspidate. In FishBase World Wide Web electronic publication, eds. R. Froese and D. Pauly. www.fishbase.org, accessed 01/2008.

  • Nelson, J.S. 2006. Fishes of the world, 4th ed, 601 pp. New York: Wiley.

    Google Scholar 

  • Pisera, A., and P. Busquets. 2002. Eocene siliceous sponges from the Ebro Basin (Catalonia, Spain). Geobios 35: 321–346.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Reguant, S. 1967. El Eoceno marino de Vic (Barcelona). Memorias del Instituto Geológico y Minero de España 68: 1–350.

    Google Scholar 

  • Serra-Kiel, J., L. Hottinger, E. Caus, K. Drobne, C. Ferràndez, A. Jauhri, G. Less, R. Pavlovec, J. Pignatti, J. Samsó, H. Schaub, E. Sirel, A. Strougo, Y. Tambareau, J. Tosquella, and E. Zakrevskaya. 1998. Larger foraminiferal biostratigraphy of the Tethyan Paleocene and Eocene. Bulletin de la Société géologique de France 169(2): 281–299.

    Google Scholar 

  • Serra-Kiel, J., A. Trave, E. Mató, E. Saula, C. Ferrández-Cañadell, P. Busquets, J. Tosquella, and J. Vergés. 2003. Marine and transitional Middle/Upper Eocene units of the Southeastern Pyrenean Foreland Basin (NE Spain). Geological Acta 1(2): 177–200.

    Google Scholar 

  • Slaughter, B.H., and S. Springer. 1968. Replacement of rostral teeth in sawfishes and sawsharks. Copeia 1968(3): 499–506.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Stromer, E. 1905. Die Fischreste des mittleren und oberen Eocäns von Ägypten. I. A Myliobatiden und Pristiden. Beitrage zur Paläontologie und Geologie Österreich-Ungarns etc 18: 37–56.

    Google Scholar 

  • Stromer, E. 1921. Der Bau, die Funktion und die Entstehung der Sägen der Sägehaie. Fortschritte Naturwissenschaften Forschung 2: 113–124.

    Google Scholar 

  • Weiler, W. 1935. Ergebnisse der Forschungsreisen Prof. E. Stromers in den Wüsten Ägyptens. II. Wirbeltierreste der Baharîje-Stufe (unterstes Cenoman). 16. Neue Untersuchungen an den Fischresten. Abhandlungen der Bayerischen Akademie der Wissenschaftliche Abteilung (n.f.) 32: 1–57.

    Google Scholar 

  • Westgate, J.W. 2001. Paleoecology and biostratigraphy of marginal marine Gulf Coast Eocene vertebrate localities. In Eocene biodiversity: unusual occurrences and rarely sampled habitats, ed. G.F. Gunnell, 263–297. New York: Kluwer Academic.

    Google Scholar 

  • White, E.I. 1926. Eocene fishes from Nigeria. Bulletin of the Geological Survey of Nigeria 10: 7–87.

    Google Scholar 

  • White, E.I., and J.A. Moy-Thomas. 1941. Notes on the nomenclature of fossil fishes. Pt. III. Annals and Magazine of Natural History 7(11): 395–400.

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgments

Our sincere gratitude to Dr. France de Lapparent de Broin, Muséum National d’Histoire Naturelle, Laboratoire de Paléontologie, Paris, for being the intermediary that led to our collaboration. Dr. X. Murelaga, Euskal Herriko Unibertsitatea, Departamento Estratigrafía y Paleontología, País Vasco, Spain; D. Cicimurri, Clemson University, South Carolina, USA; G. Stringer, University of Louisiana, Monroe, LA, USA; and three anonymous reviewers critiqued earlier drafts of the manuscript and provided important suggestions for improvement. We are also grateful for the assistance and support of J. Altimiras, R. Cano, M. D. Farrés, D. Marsal, and A. Fierstine. J. Kriwet, Staatliches Museum für Naturkunde, Stuttgart, Germany, kindly provided the photograph of SMNS 11847 shown in Fig. 4b and verified the position of the posterior most alveolus in the specimen. L. Tomanek, Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo, California, USA, provided the Zusammenfassung.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Museu Geològic del Seminari de Barcelona/Geolab-Vic, Diputació 231, 08007, Barcelona, Spain

    Francesc Farrés

  2. Biological Sciences Department, California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo, CA, 93407-0401, USA

    Harry Lee Fierstine

  3. Section of Vertebrate Paleontology, Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County, Los Angeles, CA, 90007, USA

    Harry Lee Fierstine

Authors
  1. Francesc Farrés
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Harry Lee Fierstine
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Harry Lee Fierstine.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Farrés, F., Fierstine, H.L. First record of the extinct sawfish Propristis schweinfurthi Dames, 1883 (Batoidea: Pristiformes: Pristidae) from the middle Eocene of Spain. Paläontol Z 83, 459–466 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12542-009-0029-1

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12542-009-0029-1

Keywords

Schlüsselwörter

Search

Navigation