The oldest lamprophiid (Serpentes,Caenophidia) fossil from the late Oligocene Rukwa Rift Basin,Tanzania and the origins of African snake diversity |
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| Affiliation: | 1. Department of Biology, State University of New York College at Geneseo, Geneseo, NY 14454, USA;2. Earth and Environmental Sciences, James Cook University, Townsville, 4811 QLD, Australia;3. Department of Biomedical Sciences, Heritage College of Osteopathic Medicine, Ohio University, Athens, OH 45701, USA;4. Center for Ecology and Evolutionary Studies, Ohio University, Athens, OH 45701, USA;5. Department of Geology, P.O. Box 35052, University of Dar es Salaam, Dar es Salaam, Tanzania;1. Centre for the Exploration of the Deep Human Journey, University of the Witwatersrand, Braamfontein, Johannesburg, 2050, South Africa;2. Palaeo-Research Institute, University of Johannesburg, P.O. Box 524, Auckland Park, Johannesburg, 2006, South Africa;3. Department of Geology, University of Johannesburg, Auckland Park, Johannesburg, 2006, South Africa;1. Palaeontological Institute and Museum, University of Zurich, Karl Schmid-Strasse 4, 8006 Zurich, Switzerland;2. Dipartimento di Scienze della Terra, Università di Torino, 35, via Valperga Caluso, 10125 Torino, Italy;3. Institut Català de Paleontologia Miquel Crusafont, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Edifici ICTA -ICP, Carrer de les Columnes s/n, Campus de la UAB, 08193 Cerdanyola del Vallès, Barcelona, Spain;1. Eberhard Karls University of Tübingen, Department of Geoscience, Sigwartstr. 10, 72076 Tübingen, Germany;2. Senckenberg Centre for Human Evolution and Paleoenvironment (HEP Tübingen), Sigwartstr. 10, 72076 Tübingen, Germany;1. Dipartimento di Scienze della Terra e Geoambientali, Università degli Studi di Bari Aldo Moro, Italy;2. Dipartimento di Scienze della Terra, Università di Roma La Sapienza, Italy;3. SIMA (Sistema Museale di Ateneo), Università degli Studi di Bari Aldo Moro, Italy;4. Dipartimento di Scienze della Terra, Università di Pisa, Italy;1. Ecole Pratique des Hautes Etudes, PSL, UMR 7207, 8 rue Buffon, 75005 Paris, France;2. Université de Poitiers, Laboratoire Paléontologie Évolution Paléoécosystèmes Paléoprimatologie, UMR 7262, Bât. B35 TSA 51106, 6 rue M. Brunet, 86073 Poitiers Cedex 9, France;3. Univ Lyon, Université Claude Bernard Lyon 1, CNRS, ENTPE, UMR 5023, LEHNA, F-69622 Villeurbanne, France;4. Geosciences Environnement Toulouse, Université de Toulouse, CNES, CNRS, IRD, UPS 14 av. Edouard Belin, 31400 Toulouse, France;5. Réserve naturelle nationale du Lot et Géoparc mondial UNESCO Causses du Quercy, 11 rue traversière, 46240 Labastide-Murat, France;6. ISEM, Université de Montpellier, CNRS, IRD, EPHE, Cc 064, Place Eugène Bataillon, 34095 Montpellier Cedex 5, France;7. 103 Avenue François Mitterand, 31800 Saint-Gaudens, France |
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| Abstract: | Extant snake faunas have their origins in the mid-Cenozoic, when colubroids replaced booid-grade snakes as the dominant species. The timing of this faunal changeover in North America and Europe based on fossils is thought to have occurred in the early Neogene, after a period of global cooling opened environments and made them suitable for more active predators. However, new fossils from the late Oligocene of Tanzania have revealed an early colubroid-dominated fauna in Africa suggesting a different pattern of faunal turnover there. Additionally, molecular divergence times suggest colubroid diversification began sometime in the Paleogene, although the exact timing and driving forces behind the diversification are not clear. Here we present the first fossil snake referred to the African clade Lamprophiinae, and the oldest fossil known of Lamprophiidae. As such, this specimen provides the only potential fossil calibration point for the African snake radiation represented by Lamprophiidae, and is the oldest snake referred to Elapoidea. A molecular clock analysis using this and other previously reported fossils as calibration points reveals colubroid diversification minimally occurred in the earliest Paleogene, although a Cretaceous origin cannot be excluded. The elapoid and colubrid lineages diverged during the period of global warming near the Paleocene-Eocene boundary, with both clades diversifying beginning in the early Eocene (proximate to the Early Eocene Climate Optimum) and continuing into the cooler Miocene. The majority of subclades diverge well before the appearance of colubroid dominance in the fossil record. These results suggest an earlier diversification of colubroids than generally previously thought, with hypothesized origins of these clades in Asia and Africa where the fossil record is relatively poorly known. Further work in these regions may provide new insights into the timing of, and environmental influences contributing to, the rise of colubroid snakes. |
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| Keywords: | Lamprophiidae Oligocene Paleogene East African Rift System Molecular clock Fossil calibration |
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