An enigmatic aquatic snake from the Cenomanian of Northern South America

PeerJ

article

Adriana Albino¹  Jorge D. Carrillo-Briceño²  James M. Neenan³ 

[1] Departamento de Biología, Universidad Nacional de Mar del Plata-CONICET;Paläontologisches Institut und Museum, Universität Zürich;Oxford University Museum of Natural History;Department of Earth Sciences, University of Oxford

关键词: South America;    Cretaceous;    Venezuela;    Snakes;    La Luna Formation;   

DOI  :  10.7717/peerj.2027

学科分类：社会科学、人文和艺术（综合）

来源: Inra

【 摘 要 】

We report the first record of a snake from the Cretaceous of northern South America. The remains come from the La Luna Formation (La Aguada Member, Cenomanian of Venezuela) and consist of several vertebrae, which belong to the precloacal region of the vertebral column. Comparisons to extant and extinct snakes show that the remains represent a new taxon, Lunaophis aquaticus gen. et sp nov. An aquatic mode of life is supported by the ventral position of the ribs, indicating a laterally compressed body. The systematic relationships of this new taxon are difficult to determine due to the scarcity of fossil material; it is, however, a representative of an early lineage of snakes that exploited tropical marine pelagic environments, as reflected by the depositional conditions of the La Aguada Member. Lunaophis is also the first aquatic snake from the Cenomanian found outside of the African and European Tethyan and Boreal Zones.

【 授权许可】

CC BY