Borodinopristis is an extinct sawfish currently known from the Santonian - Late Campanian of the Gulf Coast (SC-GA-MS-AL). It was a small tropical species which inhabited shallow marine waters. Due to its small size and limited range it is seldom encountered or reported.

  • Meyer (1974: 105, 109-10, Fig 29c) included as ?Sclerorhynchus sp 2, rostral denticles (spines) with asymmetrical barbs, commented on the unique cusp design and suggested they might represent a new species.
  • Case (1987) described Borodinopristis schwimmeri from material recovered from the Upper Blufftown Fm (late Early Campanian) of Stewart Co. Georgia. In this paper he noted other locations that have yielded rostral specimens:
    - Tombigbee Sand Mbr., Eutaw Fm. (Late Santonian), Newbern, [Alabama];
    - Tupelo Tongue of the Coffee Sand (Mid Campanian), near Tupelo, Mississippi (Meyer 1974);
    - upper Blufftown Fm. (Mid Campanian), Stewart Co., Georgia; and
    - Eutaw Fm. (?Mid Santonian) of Chattahoochee Co., Georgia.
  • Manning & Dockery (1992: 32-33) included the rostral denticle design from the Middle Demopolis Fm. (early Late Campanian) Prentiss Co., Mississippi.
  • Case et al (2001:93, pl 2, fig 23-31) erected B. ackermani from the Santonian of Georgia based on oral tooth design. In this species, the labial crown face was less ornamented (fewer baso-apical ridges) and lacked the more defined shoulders of B. schwimmeri.
  • Kriwet (2004) wrote that using cladistic principles and phylogenic analysis, appeared to represent a sister group to the Pristiformes and proposed the order Sclerorhynchiformes.
  • Cicimurri's (2007) reported these rostral denticles from the Upper Donoho Creek Fm. (late Late Campanian), Florence Co., South Carolina.

    Rostral denticles. Most reports of this taxon are based on the rostral denticles which may reach over 3mm in height. The peduncle is reminiscent of Ischyrhiza mira with expanded dorsal & ventral roots separated by a deep anterio-posterior groove. The cusp is I. mira-like (elongated and dorso-ventrally compressed, however it differs from other sclerorhynchids by having one or more "collared barbs" on the cusp. Rather than project from the posterior margin in typical barb fashion, the 'barbs' begin to appear posterior to the anterior edge and grow in size posteriorly. With Case's rostral denticles (one of which served as the holotype) the 'barbs' were symmetrical (similarly developed on the dorsal and ventral surfaces) while in Meyer's specimen and the one Figure below, they are asymmetrical (only one side reflects a barb); this variation is not currently deemed significant.

    Oral teeth. Case (1987: 30-31) included a proposed oral tooth-design for Borodinopristis schwimmeri based on very small (1mm-class), undescribed, Scyliorhinus-type teeth found in his sample; the hypothesized connection between the two is very logical and fully accepted by elasmo.com. In the accompanying image (Fig. ), the crown can be characterized by its prominent cusp, a labial crown face with ridges fanning out from the medial ridge and extending to the labial & lateral margins; a smooth lingual crown-face, vestigial cusplets and short but well defined uvula. The roots are relatively large, lobes splayed and the nutrient groove distinct enlarging labially.

    Selected References

    Case, G., 1987. Borodinopristis schwimmeri, a new ganopristine sawfish from the Upper Blufftown Formation (Campanian) of the Upper Cretaceous of Georgia. Bull. NJ Acad. Sci., 32.1, pp 25-33.
    Case, G, D. Schwimmer, P. Borodin and J. Leggett, 2001. A new selachian fauna from the Eutaw Formation (Upper Cretaceous/Early to Middlew Santonian) of Chattahoochee County, Georgia. Palaeontographica Abt. A, 261:83-102.
    Cicimurri, D., 2007. A late Campanian (Cretaceous) selachian assemblage from a classic locality in Florence County, South Carolina. Southeastern Geology, vol. 45, no. 2, pp. 59-72.
    Kriwet, J., 2004. The systematic position of the Cretaceous sclerorhynchid sawfishes (Elasmobranchii, Pristorajea) In: Mezozoic Fishes 3 - Systematics , Palaeoenvironments and Biodiversity. Arratia & Tintori (eds.); Pfeil, Germany. pp 57-73.
    Manning, E, and Dockery III, D, 1992. A guide to the Frankstown vertebrate fossil locality (Upper Cretaceous), Prentiss County, Mississippi. Mississippi Dept. of Env. Qual., Office of Geology, Circular 4, 43 p., 12 pls.
    Manning, E., 2006. Late Campanian vertebrate fauna of the Frankstown site, Prentiss County, Mississippi; systematics, paleoecology, taphonomy, sequence stratigraphy. Unpub. PhD dissertation, Tulane Univ., New Orleans, xvii+419pp, 16 pls.
    Meyer, R., 1974. Late Cretaceous elasmobranchs from the Mississippi and East Texas embayments of the Gulf Coastal Plain. Unpubl. PhD dissertation, Southern Methodist Univ., Dallas, xiv+419 p.

     

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