Advanced search
Start date
Betweenand
Related content
(Reference retrieved automatically from Web of Science through information on FAPESP grant and its corresponding number as mentioned in the publication by the authors.)

Additional vertebral material of Thaumastophis (Serpentes: Caenophidia) from the early Eocene of India provides new insights on the early diversification of colubroidean snakes

Full text
Author(s):
Zaher, Hussam [1] ; Folie, Annelise [2] ; Quadros, Ana B. [1, 3] ; Rana, Rajendra S. [4] ; Kumar, Kishor [5] ; Rose, Kenneth D. [6] ; Fahmy, Mohamed [7] ; Smith, Thierry [8]
Total Authors: 8
Affiliation:
[1] Univ Sao Paulo, Museu Zool, Ave Nazare 481, BR-04263000 Sao Paulo, SP - Brazil
[2] Royal Belgian Inst Nat Sci, Sci Survey Heritage, 29 Rue Vautier, B-1000 Brussels - Belgium
[3] Sorbonne Univ, Dept Origines & Evolut, Museum Natl Hist Nat, MNHN, CR2P, CNRS, 8 Rue Buffon, F-75231 Paris 05 - France
[4] HNB Garhwal Univ, Dept Geol, Srinagar 246175, Uttarakhand - India
[5] Wadia Inst Himalayan Geol, 33 Gen Mahadeo Singh Rd, Dehra Dun 248001, Uttarakhand - India
[6] Johns Hopkins Univ, Sch Med, Ctr Funct Anat & Evolut, 1830 E Monument St, Baltimore, MD 21205 - USA
[7] Egyptian Mineral Resources Author EMRA, 3 Salah Salem Rd, Cairo - Egypt
[8] Royal Belgian Inst Nat Sci, Operat Directorate Earth & Hist Life, 29 Rue Vautier, B-1000 Brussels - Belgium
Total Affiliations: 8
Document type: Journal article
Source: GEOBIOS; v. 66-67, p. 35-43, JUL 2021.
Web of Science Citations: 1
Abstract

The Ypresian Cambay Shale Formation at Vastan, Mangrol, and Tadkeshwar lignite mines in Gujarat, western India, has yielded a rich vertebrate fauna including madtsoiid, palaeophiid, booid, and colubroideanlike snakes. The latter are particularly abundant, but their systematic affinities are difficult to resolve. Here we describe new specimens of the colubroidean-like snake Thaumastophis missiaeni, including anterior, middle, and posterior trunk vertebrae, as well as caudal vertebrae. The combination of primitive and derived caenophidian and colubroidean vertebral characters confirms Thaumastophis as the earliest known stem-colubriform snake while Procerophis, from the same beds, is more derived and considered to represent a crown-Colubriformes. Additionally, Thaumastophis shares with Renenutet enmerwer from the late Eocene of Egypt a unique combination of vertebral characters that suggests an exchange with North Africa was possible along the southern margin of the Neotethys. We erect the new family Thaumastophiidae for Thaumastophis and Renenutet on the basis of their shared derived vertebral morphology. (C) 2020 Elsevier Masson SAS. All rights reserved. (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