Myliobatis toliapicus

Myliobatis toliapicus

(Agassiz, 1843)

Common name Eagle ray
Fossil group Sharks & Rays
Order Myliobatiformes
Family Myliobatidae
Genus Myliobatis
Taxonomic status Accepted
Geological age Ypresian

Summary

Myliobatis toliapicus was an eagle ray adapted for powerful swimming and foraging over the seabed. Eagle rays are not simply bottom-crawling animals: their enlarged pectoral fins allow efficient movement through the water, while their feeding is often focused on prey living in or on the sediment.

Its broad dental pavement was specialised for crushing hard food. Molluscs and crustaceans are the most likely prey, with the teeth acting together as a grinding and crushing surface capable of breaking shells and exoskeletons.

The fossil record is dominated by individual plate teeth and fragments rather than complete bodies. Even so, the dentition gives a clear picture of an active durophagous ray occupying a feeding niche very different from the pointed-toothed predatory sharks of the same marine ecosystem.

Quick Identification

Look for: a broad, flattened pavement tooth that is much wider than it is long, with a root made of many narrow parallel lamellae; complete median teeth are much more useful than small plate fragments.

Diagnostic Features

  • Median teeth are strongly transversely elongated and form a crushing pavement.
  • Crown is low with a flattened to gently convex wear surface.
  • Lateral margins interlock with neighbouring teeth in an intact plate.
  • Root is divided into numerous narrow anteroposterior lamellae.
  • Median and lateral tooth proportions differ, so tooth position must be considered in identification.

Fossil Details

Preservation
Plate teeth often delaminate, lose the root lamellae or break into rectangular fragments. Such pieces should not be assigned to species unless enough of the original outline is retained.

Similar Species

Recorded Fossil Sites

References

  • Hovestadt, D.C.; Hovestadt-Euler, M. (2013). Generic Assessment and Reallocation of Cenozoic Myliobatinae based on new information of tooth, tooth plate and caudal spine morphology of extant taxa. Palaeontos, 24, 1–66 View reference
  • Rayner, D.; Mitchell, T.; Rayner, M. (2009). London Clay Fossils of Kent and Essex. 228 pp.. Medway Fossil and Mineral Society, Rochester, Kent View reference
  • Reinecke, T.; Mollen, F.H.; Gijsen, B.; D’Haeze, B.; Hoedemakers, K. (2024). Batomorphs (Elasmobranchii: Rhinopristiformes, Rajiformes, Torpediniformes, Myliobatiformes) of the middle to late Ypresian, early Eocene, in the Anglo-Belgian Basin (south-western North Sea Basin) – a review and description of new taxa. Palaeontos, 35, 1–172 View reference
Last Reviewed
15 August 2026 Reviewed by Sam Harris