Undulatory locomotion in freshwater stingray Potamotrygon orbignyi
Subtitle: kinematics, pectoral fin morphology, and ground effects on rajiform swimming
By: a dissertation presented by Erin Leigh Blevins
Published: 2012
Language: eng
Number of pages: 158
Subjects: Stingrays; Locomotion; Fishes
Description: Fishes are the most speciose group of living vertebrates, making up more than half of extant vertebrate diversity. They have evolved a wide array of swimming modes and body forms, including the batoid elasmobranchs, the dorsoventrally flattened skates and rays, which swim via oscillations or undulations of a broad pectoral fin disc. In this work I offer insights into locomotion by an undulatory batoid, freshwater stingray Potamotrygon orbignyi (Castelnau, 1855), combining studies of live animals, physical models, and preserved specimens.
Notes: "September 2012."

Thesis advisor: George V. Lauder.

Submitted to: Department of Organismic and Evolutionary Biology.

Ph. D. Harvard University 2012

Includes bibliographical references.