''Spathobatis'' (from , 'blade' and 'ray') is an extinct genus of

ray Ray or RAY may refer to: Fish * Ray (fish), any cartilaginous fish of the superorder Batoidea * Ray (fish fin anatomy), the bony or horny spine on ray-finned fish Science and mathematics * Half-line (geometry) or ray, half of a line split at an ...

from the

Jurassic The Jurassic ( ) is a Geological period, geologic period and System (stratigraphy), stratigraphic system that spanned from the end of the Triassic Period million years ago (Mya) to the beginning of the Cretaceous Period, approximately 143.1 Mya. ...

period of Europe. ''Spathobatis'' had a body similar to that of a modern

guitarfish The guitarfish, also referred to as shovelnose rays, are a family, Rhinobatidae, of rays. The guitarfish are known for an elongated body with a flattened head and trunk and small, ray-like wings. The combined range of the various species is tro ...

, being highly flattened and widened, specializing the creature for a life on the ocean floor. Although it is one of the earliest known fossil rays, it already resembled modern forms in a number of ways. Like them, its eyes and spiracles were located atop the head, its mouth and

gill A gill () is a respiration organ, respiratory organ that many aquatic ecosystem, aquatic organisms use to extract dissolved oxygen from water and to excrete carbon dioxide. The gills of some species, such as hermit crabs, have adapted to allow r ...

slits were positioned on the underside of the body, and it had greatly expanded

pectoral fin Fins are moving appendages protruding from the body of fish that interact with water to generate thrust and help the fish aquatic locomotion, swim. Apart from the tail or caudal fin, fish fins have no direct connection with the vertebral column ...

s for swimming. Distinctive features of ''Spathobatis'' included flattened teeth, suitable for eating

shellfish Shellfish, in colloquial and fisheries usage, are exoskeleton-bearing Aquatic animal, aquatic invertebrates used as Human food, food, including various species of Mollusca, molluscs, crustaceans, and echinoderms. Although most kinds of shellfish ...

, and an elongated snout that was presumably used to probe for food on the muddy sea floor.

References

Prehistoric cartilaginous fish genera Jurassic cartilaginous fish Jurassic fish of Europe Fossil taxa described in 1849 Spathobatidae {{paleo-batoid-stub