Editing Stingray (section)

===Fossils===
[[File:Lessiniabatis fossil.png|left|thumb|The bizarre ''[[Lessiniabatis]]'' of Early Eocene Italy]]
[[Permineralization|Permineralized]] stingray teeth have been found in [[sedimentary]] deposits around the world as far back as the [[Early Cretaceous]]. The oldest known stingray taxon is "''Dasyatis''" ''speetonensis'' from the [[Hauterivian]] of [[England]], whose teeth most closely resemble that of the extant [[sixgill stingray]] (''Hexatrygon''). Although stingray [[teeth]] are rare on [[seafloor|sea bottoms]] compared to the similar [[shark teeth]], [[scuba diver]]s searching for the latter do encounter the teeth of stingrays.<ref name=":0" /><ref>{{Cite web |title=Heliobatis radians Stingray Fossil from Green River |url=http://www.fossilmall.com/Science/Sites/GreenRiver/WF14/heliobatis.htm |access-date=2023-02-14 |website=www.fossilmall.com}}</ref> 

Full-body stingray fossils are very rare but are known from certain [[lagerstätte]] that preserve soft-bodied animals. The extinct ''[[Cyclobatis]]'' of the [[Cretaceous]] of [[Lebanon]] is thought to be a [[Skate (fish)|skate]] that had [[Convergent evolution|convergently evolved]] a highly stingray-like body plan, although its exact taxonomic placement is still uncertain.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Marramà |first1=Giuseppe |last2=Schultz |first2=Ortwin |last3=Kriwet |first3=Jürgen |title=A new Miocene skate from the Central Paratethys (Upper Austria): the first unambiguous skeletal record for the Rajiformes (Chondrichthyes: Batomorphii) |journal=Journal of Systematic Palaeontology |date=3 June 2019 |volume=17 |issue=11 |pages=937–960 |doi=10.1080/14772019.2018.1486336 |pmc=6510527 |pmid=31156351 |bibcode=2019JSPal..17..937M }}</ref> True stingray fossils become more common in the Eocene, with the extinct freshwater stingrays ''[[Heliobatis]]'' and ''[[Asterotrygon]]'' known from the [[Green River Formation]].<ref>{{cite journal |last1=De Carvalho |first1=Marcelo R. |last2=Maisey |first2=John G. |last3=Grande |first3=Lance |title=Freshwater Stingrays of the Green River Formation of Wyoming (Early Eocene), with the Description of a New Genus and Species and an Analysis of ITS Phylogenetic Relationships (Chondrichthyes: Myliobatiformes) |journal=Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History |date=June 2004 |volume=284 |pages=1–136 |doi=10.1206/0003-0090(2004)284<0001:FSOTGR>2.0.CO;2 }}</ref> A diversity of stingray fossils is known from the Eocene [[Monte Bolca]] formation from [[Italy]], including the early [[Urolophidae|stingaree]] ''[[Arechia]]'', as well as ''[[Dasyomyliobatis]]'', which is thought to represent a [[Transitional fossil|transitional form]] between stingrays and [[Eagle ray|eagle rays]], and the highly unusual ''[[Lessiniabatis]]'', which had an extremely short and slender tail with no sting.<ref name=":0" /><ref name="wiley">{{Cite journal |last1=Marramà |first1=G. |last2=Villalobos-Segura |first2=E. |last3=Zorzin |first3=R. |last4=Kriwet |first4=J. |last5=Carnevale |first5=G. |year=2023 |title=The evolutionary origin of the durophagous pelagic stingray ecomorph |journal=Palaeontology |volume=66 |issue=4 |at=e12669 |bibcode=2023Palgy..6612669M |doi=10.1111/pala.12669 |pmc=7614867 |pmid=37533696}}</ref>