Cretaceous Blind Snake from Brazil Fills Major Gap in Snake Evolution

Author(s)

Fachini, Thiago Schineider ^[1] ; Onary, Silvio ^{[1, 2, 3]} ; Palci, Alessandro ^{[2, 3]} ; Lee, Michael S. Y. ^{[2, 3]} ; Bronzati, Mario ^[4] ; Hsiou, Annie Schmaltz ^[1]

Affiliation

^[1] Univ Sao Paulo, Fac Filosofia Ciencias & Letras Ribeirao Preto, Lab Paleontol, Ribeirao Preto, SP - Brazil

^[2] South Australian Museum, North Terrace, Adelaide, SA 5000 - Australia

^[3] Flinders Univ S Australia, Coll Sci & Engn, Adelaide, SA 5042 - Australia

^[4] Univ Sao Paulo, Fac Filosofia Ciencias & Letras Ribeirao Preto, Lab Evolucao & Biol Integrat, Ribeirao Preto, SP - Brazil

• Document type: Journal article
• Source: ISCIENCE; v. 23, n. 12 DEC 18 2020.
• Web of Science Citations: 0

Abstract

Blind snakes (Scolecophidia) are minute cryptic snakes that diverged at the base of the evolutionary radiation of modern snakes. They have a scant fossil record, which dates back to the Upper Paleocene-Lower Eocene (similar to 56 Ma); this late appearance conflicts with molecular evidence, which suggests amuch older origin for the group (during the Mesozoic: 160-125 Ma). Here we report a typhlopoid blind snake from the Late Cretaceous of Brazil, Boipeba tayasuensis gen. et sp. nov, which extends the scolecophidian fossil record into the Mesozoic and reduces the fossil gap predicted by molecular data. The new species is estimated to have been over 1 m long, much larger than typical modern scolecophidians (< 30 cm). This finding sheds light on the early evolution of blind snakes, supports the hypothesis of a Gondwanan origin for the Typhlopoidea, and indicates that early scolecophidians had large body size, and only later underwent miniaturization. (AU)

• FAPESP's process: 18/18145-9 - INTEGRATING EVO-DEVO AND PALAEONTOLOGY ON THE STUDY OF THE ORIGIN AND EVOLUTION OF THE TYMPANIC MEMBRANE IN DIAPSIDA
• Grantee: Mario Bronzati Filho
• Support type: Scholarships in Brazil - Post-Doctorate
• FAPESP's process: 17/00845-1 - Origins and macroevolution of Booidea (Squamata, Serpentes) using phylogenetic and ancestral area reconstruction analysis
• Grantee: Silvio Yuji Onary Alves
• Support type: Scholarships in Brazil - Doctorate
• FAPESP's process: 11/14080-0 - Cretaceous and Tertiary (Paleogene/Neogene) Squamates (Reptilia, Lepidosauria) from the Bauru, Aiuruoca and Acre basins: systematics, evolution and palaeoenvironments
• Grantee: Annie Schmaltz Hsiou
• Support type: Research Grants - Young Investigators Grants
• FAPESP's process: 19/11166-3 - Integrating molecules, morphology and fossils: the evolution of booid snakes as revealed by tip-dating total-evidence phylogenetics
• Grantee: Silvio Yuji Onary Alves
• Support type: Scholarships abroad - Research Internship - Doctorate