Pythons in the Eocene of Europe reveal a much older divergence of the group in sympatry with boas

Author(s)

Zaher, Hussam ^[1] ; Smith, Krister T. ^{[2, 3]}

Affiliation

^[1] Univ Sao Paulo, Museu Zool, Ave Nazare 481, BR-04263000 Sao Paulo, SP - Brazil

^[2] Senckenberg Res Inst, Dept Messel Res & Mammal, Senckenberganlage 25, D-60325 Frankfurt - Germany

^[3] Goethe Univ Frankfurt, Fac Biol Sci, Inst Ecol Divers & Evolut, Max von Laue Str 13, D-60438 Frankfurt - Germany

• Document type: Journal article
• Source: BIOLOGY LETTERS; v. 16, n. 12 DEC 23 2020.
• Web of Science Citations: 0

Abstract

Extant large constrictors, pythons and boas, have a wholly allopatric distribution that has been interpreted largely in terms of vicariance in Gondwana. Here, we describe a stem pythonid based on complete skeletons from the early-middle Eocene of Messel, Germany. The new species is close in age to the divergence of Pythonidae from North American Loxocemus and corroborates a Laurasian origin and dispersal of pythons. Remarkably, it existed in sympatry with the stem boid Eoconstrictor. These occurrences demonstrate that neither dispersal limitation nor strong competitive interactions were decisive in structuring biogeographic patterns early in the history of large, hyper-macrostomatan constrictors and exemplify the synergy between phylogenomic and palaeontological approaches in reconstructing past distributions. (AU)

• FAPESP's process: 18/11902-9 - Origin and higher-level diversification of snakes: basal key-taxa and the Colubroidean Cenozoic radiation (Squamata)
• Grantee: Hussam El Dine Zaher
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships abroad - Research