Open AccessA new dwarf boa (Serpentes, Booidea, ‘Tropidophiidae’) from the Early Oligocene of Belgium: a case of the isolation of Western European snake faunas
Author(s) -
SZYNDLAR ZBIGNIEW,
SMITH RICHARD,
RAGE JEANCLAUDE
Publication year - 2008
Publication title -
zoological journal of the linnean society
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.148
H-Index - 83
eISSN - 1096-3642
pISSN - 0024-4082
DOI - 10.1111/j.1096-3642.2007.00357.x
Subject(s) - biology , fauna , zoology , isolation (microbiology) , paleontology , ecology , microbiology and biotechnology
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.