|
|||||
|
|
A new dwarf boa (Serpentes, Booidea, 'Tropidophiidae') from the Early Oligocene of Belgium: a case of the isolation of Western European snake faunas |
|
| Authors: | ZBIGNIEW SZYNDLAR RICHARD SMITH JEAN-CLAUDE RAGE |
| Institution: | Institute of Systematics and Evolution of Animals, Polish Academy of Sciences, Slawkowska 17, 31-016 Krakow, Poland; Département de Paléontologie, Institut royal des Sciences naturelles de Belgique, Rue Vautier 29, B-1000 Bruxelles, Belgium; UMR CNRS 5143, UPMC, Département Histoire de la Terre, Muséum national d'Histoire naturelle, CP 38, 8 rue Buffon, 75231 Paris cedex 05, France |
| Abstract: | Falseryx neervelpensis sp. nov. (Booid-grade, 'Tropidophiidae') from the earliest Oligocene (MP 21) of Belgium is described on the basis of vertebrae coming from all major portions of the vertebral column. In its peculiar caudal osteology, the snake approaches the unique morphological pattern characteristic of the living Neotropical Tropidophiinae. This is the first time such a complete and informative vertebral column of a dwarf boa has been described. The genus Falseryx was absent from Western Europe in younger parts of the Oligocene, but reappeared at the end of the Early Miocene. This dispersal pattern provides additional evidence that in most phases of the Oligocene and Early Miocene Western European snake faunas were effectively isolated from possible influences from the East. © 2008 The Linnean Society of London, Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society , 2008, 152 , 393–406. |
| Keywords: | Boutersem TGV caudal osteology vertebrae |