Spathobatis

Name: Spathobatis.
Phonetic: Spa-foe-bat-is.
Named By: Thiolliare‭ ‬-‭ ‬1854.
Classification: Chordata,‭ ‬Chondrichthyes,‭ ‬Elasmobranchii,‭ ‬Batoidea,‭ ‬Rajiformes.
Species: S.‭ ‬bugesiacus,‭ ‬S.‭ ‬delsatei,‭ ‬S.‭ ‬moorbergensis,‭ ‬S.‭ ‬mutterlosei,‭ ‬S.‭ ‬uppensis,‭ ‬S,‭ ‬werneri.
Diet: Carnivore.
Size: Up to‭ ‬50‭ ‬centimetres long.
Known locations: Germany and the British Isles.
Time period: Mid to late Jurassic.
Fossil representation: Several specimens.

       An ancient ray,‭ ‬Spathobatis was actually similar to a guitarfish in form.‭ ‬The snout was slightly elongated which meant that it could be used to shovel through soft sediment like mud in order to uncover shellfish that had buried themselves for protection.‭ ‬Spathobatis is regarded as one of the earliest prehistoric rays,‭ ‬though it wasn’t necessarily the first.

Further reading
- Jurazeitliche Neoselachier aus Deutschland und S-England (Jurassic neoselachians from German and S-England). - Courier Forschungsinstitut Senckenberg 58:1-116. - D. Thies - 1983.
- Neoselachian sharks and rays from the British Bathonian (Middle Jurassic). - Palaeontology 47(3):447-501. - C. J. Underwood & D. J. Ward - 2004.

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