Pucapristis

Taxobox
name = "Pucapristis"


status = fossil
fossil_range = Maastrichtian to
regnum = Animalia
phylum = Chordata
classis = Chondrichthyes
ordo = Pristiformes
familia =
genus = "Pucapristis"
species = "Pucapristis branisi"
binomial = "Pucapristis branisi"
binomial_authority = "Pucapristis branisi" Schaeffer, 1963

"Pucapristis" is a prehistoric genus of saw fish whose fossils first appear in the fossil record in rocks dating from the Maastrichtian stage. Fossils of "Pucapristis" have not been found in any subsequent strata. Incidentally, the Maastrichtian is the final portion of the Cretaceous Period and its endpoint marks the advent of the K-T extinction event. This major geological transition is famous for being the mass extinction that wiped out the dinosaurs.

Classification

pecies

Only one species has been thusfar described.
*"Pucapristis branisi"

Biogeography

To date, "Pucapristis" fossils have been found only in the Maastrichtian deposits of central South America. The El Molino Formation of Bolivia produces "Pucapristis" tooth fossils in abundance. These Bolivian specimens have been recovered near the cities of Potosi and Sucre The Salta province of northwestern Argentina is another locality from which "Pucapristis" remains can be excavated.

ee also

* Flora and fauna of the Maastrichtian stage
* List of prehistoric cartilaginous fish (Chondrichthyes)