page_title: Sawfish
section_title: Extinct (fossil) species
hierarchical_section_title: Sawfish / Taxonomy and etymology / Extinct (fossil) species
caption_attribution_description: English: Fossil rostal teeth of Pristis lathami from Khouribga (Morocco.)
context_page_description: Sawfishes, also known as carpenter sharks, are a family of rays characterized by a long, narrow, flattened rostrum, or nose extension, lined with sharp transverse teeth, arranged in a way that resembles a saw. They are among the largest fish with some species reaching lengths of about 7–7.6 m. They are found worldwide in tropical and subtropical regions in coastal marine and brackish estuarine waters, as well as freshwater rivers and lakes.
  They should not be confused with sawsharks or the extinct sclerorhynchids which have a similar appearance, or swordfish which have a similar name but a very different appearance.
  Sawfishes are relatively slow breeders and the females give birth to live young. They feed on fish and invertebrates that are detected and captured with the use of their saw. They are generally harmless to humans, but can inflict serious injuries with the saw when captured and defending themselves.
  Sawfish have been known and hunted for thousands of years, and play an important mythological and spiritual role in many societies around the world.
context_section_description: In addition to the living sawfish, there are several extinct species that only are known from fossil remains. The oldest known is the monotypic genus Peyeria where the remains are about 100 million years old from the Cenomanian age (Late Cretaceous), though it may represent a rhinid rather than a sawfish. Indisputable sawfish genera emerged in the Cenozoic age about 60 million years ago, relatively soon after the Cretaceous–Paleogene mass extinction. Among these are Propristis, a monotypic genus only known from fossil remains, as well as several extinct Pristis species and several extinct Anoxypristis species (both of these genera are also represented by living species). Historically, palaeontologists have not separated Anoxypristis from Pristis. In contrast, several additional extinct genera are occasionally listed, including Dalpiazia, Onchopristis, Oxypristis, and Mesopristis, but recent authorities generally include the first two in the family Sclerorhynchidae and the last two are synonyms of Anoxypristis. Fossils of sawfish have been found around the world in all continents.
  The extinct family Sclerorhynchidae resemble sawfish. They are known only from Cretaceous fossils, and usually reached lengths only of approximately 1 m (3.3 ft). Some have suggested that sawfish and sclerorhynchids form a clade, the Pristiorajea, while others believe the groups are not particularly close, making the proposed clade polyphyletic.
caption: Extinct sawfish are often only known from their rostral teeth, here from the Eocene species Pristis lathami.[26]
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