Italy's largest snake : Redescription of palaeophis oweni from the eocene of Monte Duello, near Verona
Georgalis, Georgios (Università di Torino. Dipartimento di Scienze della Terra)
Del Favero, Letizia (Centro di Ateneo per i Musei. Museo di Geologia e Paleontologia)
Delfino, Massimo (Institut Català de Paleontologia Miquel Crusafont)

Date:	2020
Abstract:	We here redescribe Palaeophis oweni, an almost neglected species of palaeophiid snakes from the Eocene of Monte Duello, northeastern Italy. Despite having been described since the 19th century and being the only known named species of its genus from Mediterranean Europe, P. oweni has so far received only minor and sporadic attention in the literature. The only as yet available information for this species was the original lithograph accompanying its brief, 1881 description. We here provide photographs and detailed description of the type and only known material for the first time, designate a lectotype, and clarify certain nomenclatural issues, as well as inaccuracies in the original lithograph. We distinguish certain features in its vertebral anatomy that allow us to treat P. oweni as a valid species and provide an emended diagnosis. Nevertheless, we highlight that a comprehensive reassessment of the nominal species of Palaeophis from the Eocene of the United Kingdom is essential in order to decipher with certainty the validity and distinctiveness of the Italian form. Palaeophis oweni represents the largest snake known from the Italian fossil record.
Rights:	Aquest document està subjecte a una llicència d'ús Creative Commons. Es permet la reproducció total o parcial, la distribució, la comunicació pública de l'obra i la creació d'obres derivades, fins i tot amb finalitats comercials, sempre i quan es reconegui l'autoria de l'obra original.
Language:	Anglès
Document:	Article ; recerca ; Versió publicada
Subject:	Squamata ; Serpentes ; Palaeophis ; Paleogene ; Europe ; Italy
Published in:	Acta Palaeontologica Polonica, Vol. 65, Num. 3 (2020) , p. 523-533, ISSN 1732-2421

DOI: 10.4202/APP.00711.2019

11 p, 35.0 MB

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Research literature > UAB research groups literature > Research Centres and Groups (research output) > Experimental sciences > Institut Català de Paleontologia Miquel Crusafont (ICP)
Articles > Research articles
Articles > Published articles