Fig 1.
COI gene phylogenetic relationships of stingrays (phylogram).
The bootstrap values (ML/Bayesian Inference) are shown at branches.
Fig 2.
ND2 gene phylogenetic relationships of stingrays (phylogram).
The bootstrap values (ML/Bayesian Inference) are shown at branches.
Fig 3.
RAG1 gene phylogenetic relationships of stingrays (cladogram).
The bootstrap values (ML/Bayesian Inference) are shown at branches.
Table 1.
Range of uncorrected p-distances for COI, ND2 and RAG1 genes among families in the Order Myliobatiformes.
Table 2.
Range of uncorrected p-distances among the four clusters in the Dasyatidae (sensu Carpenter & Niem, 1999) based on COI, ND2 and RAG1 genes.
Table 3.
Character matrix for thirteen major families (including Dasyatis microps) of the Myliobatiformes (present study) based on nine character states.
Fig 4.
Plots of canonical scores derived from forward stepwise discriminant analysis of morphometric measurements of four stingray families.
Squares = Dasyatidae; triangles = Neotrygonidae; crosses = Himanturidae; circles = Pastinachidae.
Fig 5.
Morphological characters used in key to the families of Order Myliobatiformes.
Wing-like body shape of Mobulidae (A) and Gymnuridae (B), Head of Myliobatidae (C), Head of Rhinopteridae (D), Gill openings of Hexatrigonidae (E), Plesiobatidae with long preorbital length (F), Short tail with caudal fin (G), Whip-like tail with low ventral skin fold (H), Whip-like tail with large ventral skin fold (I), Body thorns without denticles (J), and Body with thorns and denticles (K). Drawings adapted from photos and figures in Carpenter & Niem [1] and Last et al. [5].
Fig 6.
Dorsal surface of representative specimens of Dasyatidae (A), Neotrygonidae (Neotrygon species) (B), Neotrygonidae (Taeniura species) (C), Himanturidae (D) and Pastinachidae (E), showing thorns and/or denticle patterns on dorsal surface.
Drawings adapted from photos in Carpenter & Niem [1] and Last et al. [5].
Table 4.
Character matrix for species within the four proposed families that were not included in the representative species list.