Gynandric (sexual) heterodonty appears absent or weak in all rhinopristiform genera of Pristidae, Rhinidae, Rhinobatidae, and Glaucostegidae. Also, differences in tooth widths exist in upper and respective lower jaws of Zanobatus. The exceptions are Aptychotrema, Pseudobatos, and in Rhinidae, where differing patterns exist in upper/lower jaws. Upper/lower jaws of most rhinopristiform taxa are dignathic-homodont (or nearly so). Whereas the former type is characteristic of most genera in the Rhinopristiformes (Anoxypristis and Pristis, Acroteriobatus and Rhinobatos, Glaucostegus, Trygonorrhina and Zapteryx ) and some dasyatoid genera, i.e., Pteroplatytrygon and Megatrygon (Dasyatidae), Plesiobatis (Plesiobatidae), Trygonoptera and Urolophus (Urolophidae), and Urobatis and Urotrygon (Urotrygonidae), the second type is observed in the rhinopristiform genera Aptychotrema (Trygonorrhinidae), Pseudobatos (upper jaw, Rhinobatidae), Rhina, Rhynchorhina, and Rhynchobatus, and in most genera of the Dasyatoidea. Two types of monognathic dental patterns are observed: unidirectional-gradient- and undulate-gradient-heterodont. In instances where two or more species of a given genus are studied, we are more likely to recognize uniform dental characteristics, as opposed to merely recognizing the often stronger differences between genera or families. These illustrations partly complement earlier studies by HERMAN et al. To partly fill this gap, this study illustrates the dentitions and extracted teeth of 11 extant species in the families Pristidae, Rhinidae, Rhinobatidae, Glaucostegidae, Trygonorrhinidae (Rhinopristiformes) and Zanobatidae (?Myliobatiformes, ex Rhinobatiformes), and 25 species in the families Dasyatidae, Urotrygonidae, and Urolophidae (Dasyatoidea).

We identified numerous extant species and genera of the order Rhinopristiformes and the superfamily Dasyatoidea whose teeth or dentitions have previously not been described or illustrated sufficiently to describe their characteristic features. Unfortunately, there is a paucity of such detailed information in the literature. Detailed illustrations and descriptions of batoid dental morphology and structure can provide important clues for the identification, taxonomy, and phylogeny of fossil batoids whose fossil remains are often limited to isolated teeth.

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