''Australopristis'' is an extinct

genus Genus (; : genera ) is a taxonomic rank above species and below family (taxonomy), family as used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In bino ...

of sclerorhynchoid fish from the

late Cretaceous epoch The Late Cretaceous (100.5–66 Ma) is the more recent of two epochs into which the Cretaceous Period is divided in the geologic time scale. Rock strata from this epoch form the Upper Cretaceous Series. The Cretaceous is named after ''creta'', ...

. Its name is derived from the

Latin Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...

for "southern" and the

Greek Greek may refer to: Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor of all kno ...

for "saw". It is known from a single species, ''A. wiffeni'' named for the late prominent fossil hunter

Joan Wiffen Joan Wiffen (née Pederson; 4 February 1922 – 30 June 2009) was a self-taught New Zealand paleontologist known for discovering the first dinosaur fossils in New Zealand. Early life Wiffen was born in 1922 and was brought up in Havelock North, ...

. This species is currently known only from rostral teeth found at Mangahouanga stream and East Wing, Haumuri bluff,

New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...

. Its rostral teeth possess a smooth root which makes it unique among sclerorhynchoids. Rostral teeth appear to vary in morphology according to position and

ontogenetic stage Ontogeny (also ontogenesis) is the origination and development of an organism (both physical and psychological, e.g., moral development), usually from the time of fertilization of the egg to adult. The term can also be used to refer to the stu ...

. Unlike the related ''

Onchopristis ''Onchopristis'' is an extinct genus of Sclerorhynchoidei, sclerorhynchoid, or sawskate, from the Cretaceous of North Africa, Europe, North America, and potentially South America. It contains two valid species, ''O. numida'' and ''O. dunklei'', t ...

'' and '' Atlanticopristis'', it lives in a marine rather than

fluvial A river is a natural stream of fresh water that flows on land or inside caves towards another body of water at a lower elevation, such as an ocean, lake, or another river. A river may run dry before reaching the end of its course if it ru ...

environment and likely preferred cooler waters.

References

Sclerorhynchoidei Monotypic prehistoric cartilaginous fish genera {{paleo-rajiformes-stub