Rhinobatidae

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 tropical, subtropical, and warm temperate waters worldwide.

Rhinobatidae

Uncredited · CC BY-SA 2.0 · via Wikipedia/Commons. May be a photograph of a specimen, or an artist’s reconstruction — an interpretation of a skeleton, since colour and soft tissue are almost never preserved.

On record

Recorded, not inferred
Sits inside
RhinopristiformesPBDB
Diet
carnivorePBDB, for Chondrichthyes
Life habit
nektonicPBDB, for Chondrichthyes
Motility
actively mobilePBDB, for Chondrichthyes

Time the record covers

At least 170 million years on record.

The record covers at least 170.9 Mya to 11.7 ka. No occurrence read is dated outside 174.7 Mya to 0 Mya.

Early Jurassic — about 0 of 541 occurrencesMiddle Jurassic — about 4 of 541 occurrencesLate Jurassic — about 6 of 541 occurrencesLate JurassicEarly Cretaceous — about 23 of 541 occurrencesEarly CretaceousLate Cretaceous — about 402 of 541 occurrencesLate CretaceousPaleocene — about 11 of 541 occurrencesEocene — about 59 of 541 occurrencesEoceneOligocene — about 2 of 541 occurrencesMiocene — about 20 of 541 occurrencesMiocenePliocene — about 12 of 541 occurrencesPleistocene — about 1 of 541 occurrences178–172 Mya — about 0.6 occurrences172–166 Mya — about 2 occurrences166–160 Mya — about 2 occurrences160–154 Mya — about 1 occurrence154–148 Mya — about 3 occurrences148–143 Mya — about 1 occurrence143–137 Mya — about 0.2 occurrences137–131 Mya — about 2 occurrences131–125 Mya — about 3 occurrences125–119 Mya — about 7 occurrences119–113 Mya — about 3 occurrences113–107 Mya — about 6 occurrences107–101 Mya — about 2 occurrences101–95 Mya — about 31 occurrences95–89 Mya — about 27 occurrences89–83 Mya — about 30 occurrences83–77 Mya — about 82 occurrences77–71 Mya — about 94 occurrences71–65 Mya — about 138 occurrences65–59 Mya — about 3 occurrences59–53 Mya — about 16 occurrences53–48 Mya — about 20 occurrences48–42 Mya — about 17 occurrences42–36 Mya — about 10 occurrences36–30 Mya — about 4 occurrences30–24 Mya — about 0.7 occurrences24–18 Mya — about 4 occurrences18–12 Mya — about 8 occurrences12–5.9 Mya — about 7 occurrences5.9–0 Mya — about 16 occurrences170.9 Mya11.7 ka178 Mya0 Mya

541 occurrences of Rhinobatidae on record, most of them in the Late Cretaceous. The Paleobiology Database records this as a living group. Bar height is expected occurrences, not a count: each fossil is spread across the span it is dated to, so a tall narrow bar means tight dating and a low wide one means loose.

When

541 occurrences

These are dates about fossils, not the animal: the record can only begin after it arose and end before it died out, so either end may reach further. Shares are expected occurrences: a fossil dated to a span is counted partly in each period it straddles. More on what this infers.

Found in

142 formations

Hell Creek — 47.80°N, 106.10°WHell Creek — 46.03°N, 103.77°WHell Creek — 46.21°N, 103.77°WHell Creek — 46.38°N, 103.96°WHell Creek — 45.95°N, 103.96°WHell Creek — 46.41°N, 103.94°WHell Creek — 46.10°N, 103.30°WHell Creek — 46.33°N, 103.90°WHell Creek — 45.94°N, 103.95°WHell Creek — 47.55°N, 107.13°WHell Creek — 47.62°N, 107.32°WHell Creek — 47.57°N, 107.10°WHell Creek — 47.52°N, 106.40°WHell Creek — 47.55°N, 107.25°WHell Creek — 47.53°N, 106.92°WHell Creek — 47.07°N, 106.92°WHell Creek — 47.60°N, 106.27°WHell Creek — 47.60°N, 107.23°WHell Creek — 46.90°N, 101.50°WHell Creek — 47.60°N, 107.00°WHell Creek — 46.46°N, 104.00°WHell Creek — 46.33°N, 104.01°WHell Creek — 46.41°N, 103.50°WHell Creek — 45.66°N, 105.08°WHell Creek — 45.89°N, 104.55°WHell Creek — 45.50°N, 103.10°WHell Creek — 45.64°N, 103.49°WHell Creek — 47.60°N, 106.92°WHell Creek — 47.27°N, 107.13°WHell Creek — 45.53°N, 101.63°WHell Creek — 45.00°N, 103.19°WHell Creek — 45.05°N, 101.97°WDinosaur Park — 50.81°N, 111.32°WDinosaur Park — 49.12°N, 110.47°WDinosaur Park — 50.75°N, 111.48°WDinosaur Park — 50.74°N, 111.49°WDinosaur Park — 50.79°N, 111.62°WDinosaur Park — 50.75°N, 111.40°WDinosaur Park — 50.68°N, 108.09°WLance — 43.30°N, 104.37°WLance — 43.12°N, 104.64°WLance — 41.57°N, 108.67°WLance — 41.57°N, 108.65°WLance — 43.18°N, 104.53°WLance — 43.15°N, 104.57°WLance — 43.80°N, 104.62°WLance — 43.00°N, 104.50°WLance — 43.25°N, 104.65°WLance — 43.25°N, 104.52°WLance — 43.27°N, 104.62°WJudith River — 46.47°N, 109.30°WJudith River — 46.46°N, 109.41°WJudith River — 46.10°N, 109.10°WJudith River — 48.03°N, 109.01°WJudith River — 47.79°N, 108.94°WJudith River — 48.01°N, 108.91°WJudith River — 48.58°N, 109.22°WJudith River — 48.05°N, 106.32°WJudith River — 48.53°N, 109.67°WJudith River — 47.87°N, 109.15°WJudith River — 48.25°N, 109.30°WJudith River — 46.76°N, 108.00°WJudith River — 47.74°N, 108.96°WJudith River — 43.64°N, 109.35°WJudith River — 46.42°N, 109.27°WJudith River — 46.40°N, 109.66°WJudith River — 46.44°N, 109.83°WMesaverde — 42.85°N, 107.28°WMesaverde — 44.08°N, 107.74°WMesaverde — 44.10°N, 107.75°WMesaverde — 44.17°N, 107.81°WOldman — 50.75°N, 111.51°WOldman — 49.10°N, 110.94°WOldman — 49.08°N, 110.84°WOldman — 49.08°N, 110.68°WOldman — 49.16°N, 110.72°WOldman — 50.83°N, 111.32°WOldman — 49.96°N, 110.26°WFerris — 41.80°N, 107.00°WFerris — 41.94°N, 106.89°WGreenhorn Limestone — 37.22°N, 103.60°WGreenhorn Limestone — 39.00°N, 98.92°WGreenhorn Limestone — 37.69°N, 103.94°WGreenhorn Limestone — 39.81°N, 97.34°WGreenhorn Limestone — 37.46°N, 103.05°WGreenhorn Limestone — 39.04°N, 98.99°WGreenhorn Limestone — 38.78°N, 98.96°WGreenhorn Limestone — 38.74°N, 99.04°WGreenhorn Limestone — 37.65°N, 103.93°WMatam — 15.32°N, 13.03°WMatam — 15.31°N, 13.09°WCarlile Shale — 39.89°N, 98.03°WCarlile Shale — 43.40°N, 103.36°WCarlile Shale — 39.78°N, 98.15°WCarlile Shale — 42.74°N, 97.03°WCarlile Shale — 43.25°N, 103.92°WCarlile Shale — 44.09°N, 104.68°WMarnes de Donzacq — 43.75°N, 0.84°WFox Hills — 46.47°N, 99.58°WFox Hills — 46.42°N, 100.74°WFox Hills — 44.52°N, 102.39°WFox Hills — 45.13°N, 101.80°WHorseshoe Canyon — 51.55°N, 112.87°WHorseshoe Canyon — 52.00°N, 112.88°WHorseshoe Canyon — 51.55°N, 112.88°WNewhaven Chalk — 51.45°N, 1.36°WNewhaven Chalk — 50.88°N, 0.81°WNewhaven Chalk — 51.53°N, 0.70°WGreenhorn — 43.29°N, 103.80°WGreenhorn — 44.72°N, 103.67°WGreenhorn — 44.76°N, 103.75°WGreenhorn — 43.29°N, 103.42°WFrenchman — 49.50°N, 109.10°WFrenchman — 49.04°N, 106.60°WFrenchman — 49.40°N, 107.40°WFrenchman — 49.30°N, 108.40°WFruitland — 36.49°N, 108.49°WFruitland — 36.27°N, 108.26°WForemost — 50.07°N, 111.14°WForemost — 49.13°N, 110.87°WObourg — 50.47°N, 4.00°EMarshalltown — 39.55°N, 75.65°WMishash — 30.87°N, 34.94°EMishash — 30.83°N, 34.92°ESelsey — 50.80°N, 1.21°WEsbarrondadoiro — 38.17°N, 8.17°WEsbarrondadoiro — 38.11°N, 8.36°WEsbarrondadoiro — 39.30°N, 8.12°WNavesink — 40.35°N, 74.17°WNavesink — 40.38°N, 74.21°W

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The named rock units Rhinobatidae has been recovered from, largest first. Drawn where the rock is now, not where it formed. 118 further formations hold fewer occurrences each and are not listed. 116 occurrences have no formation on record, which is common for older literature.

Rhinobatidae and its relatives

Late Cretaceous

Where Rhinobatidae and its relatives were recorded in the Late Cretaceous.

Found in the same rock

1,687 taxa

The Paleobiology Database records 489 sites for Rhinobatidae, and this reads 240 of them. The number is how many of those sites it was catalogued from too. The 24 sharing the most are listed.

This is not a list of everything alive at the time. It is only what has come out of the same ground as this animal and been written down.

Entered from

235 references

Each of the 541 occurrences read was entered from one of these publications, ordered by how many each accounts for. This is not a search for papers mentioning the name. 223 further references are not listed. Entries link to doi.org where the Paleobiology Database holds an identifier, and to its own record where it does not. Relayed as the Paleobiology Database holds them, not checked against what they resolve to.

Media and terms

Media content1

Picture of Rhinobatidae

Credit
nobody named on the record
Licence
CC BY-SA 2.0
Commercial use
the licence allows it

No 3D scan of Rhinobatidae was found in MorphoSource and Sketchfab.

Smithsonian Open Access was not reached for this taxon, so this list is what the others held rather than everything there is.

The description on this site

Licence
CC BY-SA 4.0

This is what the site found, which is not the same as what exists.

Keep going

What may have been alongside itRhinopristiformes through timeFormations of the Late CretaceousThe world it lived on

Occurrence data from the Paleobiology Database, CC BY 4.0. Müller and Henle 1837