From the museum, a new race of myliobatiform is found in fossils

22.06.2021

An international group of researchers, including Luca Giusberti from the University of Padua’s Department of Geosciences, discovered a new race of myliobatiform fossils (Lessiniabatis aenigmatica) in the Natural History Museums of Paris, Florence, and Udine. The new race of stingray has a unique and bizarre anatomy different from that of presently known species. The new body plan of the Aenigmatic Lessiniabatis, from the Eocene era, is particularly interesting because it is considered an "experiment" of cartilaginous fish during their evolution at the end of the Cretaceous period.

Stingrays (myliobatiformes) are a group of cartilaginous fishes which are known for their venomous and serrated tail stings, which the use against other predatory fish.

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