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Snakes of the Siwalik Group (Miocene of Pakistan): Systematics and Relationship to Environmental Change
Palaeontologia Electronica http://palaeo-electronica.org SNAKES OF THE SIWALIK GROUP (MIOCENE OF PAKISTAN): SYSTEMATICS AND RELATIONSHIP TO ENVIRONMENTAL CHANGE Jason J. Head ABSTRACT The lower and middle Siwalik Group of the Potwar Plateau, Pakistan (Miocene, approximately 18 to 3.5 Ma) is a continuous fluvial sequence that preserves a dense fossil record of snakes. The record consists of approximately 1,500 vertebrae derived from surface-collection and screen-washing of bulk matrix. This record represents 12 identifiable taxa and morphotypes, including Python sp., Acrochordus dehmi, Ganso- phis potwarensis gen. et sp. nov., Bungarus sp., Chotaophis padhriensis, gen. et sp. nov., and Sivaophis downsi gen. et sp. nov. The record is dominated by Acrochordus dehmi, a fully-aquatic taxon, but diversity increases among terrestrial and semi-aquatic taxa beginning at approximately 10 Ma, roughly coeval with proxy data indicating the inception of the Asian monsoons and increasing seasonality on the Potwar Plateau. Taxonomic differences between the Siwalik Group and coeval European faunas indi- cate that South Asia was a distinct biogeographic theater from Europe by the middle Miocene. Differences between the Siwalik Group and extant snake faunas indicate sig- nificant environmental changes on the Plateau after the last fossil snake occurrences in the Siwalik section. Jason J. Head. Department of Paleobiology, National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution, P.O. Box 37012, Washington, DC 20013-7012, USA. [email protected] School of Biological Sciences, Queen Mary, University of London, London, E1 4NS, United Kingdom. KEY WORDS: Snakes, faunal change, Siwalik Group, Miocene, Acrochordus. PE Article Number: 8.1.18A Copyright: Society of Vertebrate Paleontology May 2005 Submission: 3 August 2004. -
A Diverse Snake Fauna from the Early Eocene of Vastan Lignite Mine, Gujarat, India
A diverse snake fauna from the early Eocene of Vastan Lignite Mine, Gujarat, India JEAN−CLAUDE RAGE, ANNELISE FOLIE, RAJENDRA S. RANA, HUKAM SINGH, KENNETH D. ROSE, and THIERRY SMITH Rage, J.−C., Folie, A., Rana, R.S., Singh, H., Rose, K.D., and Smith, T. 2008. A diverse snake fauna from the early Eocene of Vastan Lignite Mine, Gujarat, India. Acta Palaeontologica Polonica 53 (3): 391–403. The early Eocene (Ypresian) Cambay Formation of Vastan Lignite Mine in Gujarat, western India, has produced a di− verse assemblage of snakes including at least ten species that belong to the Madtsoiidae, Palaeophiidae (Palaeophis and Pterosphenus), Boidae, and several Caenophidia. Within the latter taxon, the Colubroidea are represented by Russel− lophis crassus sp. nov. (Russellophiidae) and by Procerophis sahnii gen. et sp. nov. Thaumastophis missiaeni gen. et sp. nov. is a caenophidian of uncertain family assignment. At least two other forms probably represent new genera and spe− cies, but they are not named; both appear to be related to the Caenophidia. The number of taxa that represent the Colubroidea or at least the Caenophidia, i.e., advanced snakes, is astonishing for the Eocene. This is consistent with the view that Asia played an important part in the early history of these taxa. The fossils come from marine and continental levels; however, no significant difference is evident between faunas from these levels. The fauna from Vastan Mine in− cludes highly aquatic, amphibious, and terrestrial snakes. All are found in the continental levels, including the aquatic palaeophiids, whereas the marine beds yielded only two taxa. -
Download Vol. 20, No. 2
BULLETIN of the FLORIDA STATE MUSEUM Biological Sciences Volume 20 1976 Number 2 THE GENUS GOPHERUS ( TESTUDINIDAE ): PT. I. OSTEOLOGY AND RELATIONSHIPS OF EXTANT SPECIES WALTER AUFFENBERC e = UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA GAINESVILLE Numbers of the BULLETIN OF THE FLORIDA STATE MUSEUM, BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES, are published at irregular intervals. Volumes contain about 300 pages and are not necessaril; completed in any one calendar year. CARTER R. GILBERT, Editor RHODA J, RYBAK, Managing Editor Consultants for this issue: JAMES L. DOBIE J, ALAN HOLMAN SAM R. TELFORD, JR. Communications concerning purchase or exchange of the publications and all man- uscripts should be addressed to the Managing Editor of the Bulletin, Florida State Museum, Museum Road, University of Florida, Gainesville, Florida 32611. This public document was promulgated at an annual cost of $2,561.67 or $2.328 per copy. It makes available to libraries, scholars, and all interested persons the results of researches in the natural sciences, emphasizing the Circum-Caribbean region. Publication date: January 23, 1976 Price $2.35 THE GENUS GOPHERUS (TESTUDINIDAE): PT. I. OSTEOLOGY AND RELATIONSHIPS OF EXTANT SPECIES WALTER AUFFENBERGl SYNOPSIS: Adult skeletons of the extant species of the genus Gopherus were studied to determine the kind and level of similarities and differences between them and to form a comparative base for studies of fossil members of the genus. The skeleton and its variation in each of the species is described and/or figured and analyzed. The four extant species form two species groups, based on a number of osteological characters. One group includes G. polyphemus and G, #avomarginatus, the other G. -
Latest Early-Early Middle Eocene Deposits of Algeria
MONOGRAPH Latest Early-early Middle Eocene deposits of Algeria (Glib Zegdou, HGL50), yield the richest and most diverse fauna of amphibians and squamate reptiles from the Palaeogene of Africa JEAN-CLAUDE RAGEa †, MOHAMMED ADACIb, MUSTAPHA BENSALAHb, MAHAMMED MAHBOUBIc, LAURENT MARIVAUXd, FATEH MEBROUKc,e & RODOLPHE TABUCEd* aCR2P, Sorbonne Universités, UMR 7207, CNRS, Muséum National d’Histoire Naturelle, Université Paris 6, CP 38, 57 rue Cuvier, 75231 Paris cedex 05, France bLaboratoire de Recherche n°25, Université de Tlemcen, BP. 119, Tlemcen 13000, Algeria cLaboratoire de Paléontologie, Stratigraphie et Paléoenvironnement, Université d’Oran 2, BP. 1524, El M’naouer, Oran 31000, Algeria dInstitut des Sciences de l’Evolution de Montpellier (ISE-M), UMR 5554 CNRS/UM/ IRD/EPHE, Université de Montpellier, Place Eugène Bataillon, 34095 Montpellier cedex 5, France eDépartement des Sciences de la Terre et de l’Univers, Faculté des Sciences de la Nature et de la Vie, Université Mohamed Seddik Ben Yahia - Jijel, BP. 98 Cité Ouled Aïssa, 18000 Jijel, Algeria * Corresponding author: [email protected] Abstract: HGL50 is a latest Early-early Middle Eocene vertebrate-bearing locality located in Western Algeria. It has produced the richest and most diverse fauna of amphibians and squamate reptiles reported from the Palaeogene of Africa. Moreover, it is one of the rare faunas including amphibians and squamates known from the period of isolation of Africa. The assemblage comprises 17 to 20 taxa (one gymnophionan, one probable caudate, three to six anurans, seven ‘lizards’, and five snakes). Two new taxa were recovered: the anuran Rocekophryne ornata gen. et sp. nov. and the snake Afrotortrix draaensis gen. -
Abstracts of Papers and Posters
THIRTY-NINTH ANNUAL MEETING AND SYMPOSIUM THE DESERT TORTOISE COUNCIL DoubleTree by Hilton Hotel, Ontario, CA February 21 —23, 2014 ABSTRACTS OF PAPERS AND POSTERS (Abstracts arranged alphabetically by last name of first author) *Speaker, if not the first author listed Restoring Native Vegetation in Desert Tortoise Habitat of the Eastern Mojave Desert Scott R. Abella, Lindsay P. Chiquoine, and Alice C. Newton 'Natural Resource Conservation LLC, Boulder City, NV 89005 E-mail:[email protected] Department of Environmental and Occupational Health, University of Nevada, Las Vegas, NV 89154 'National Park Service, Lake Mead National Recreation Area, Boulder City, NV 89005 By supplying food, water, cover, and numerous other habitat features, quality plant communities are essential to quality desert tortoise habitat. When desert environments are severely disturbed, reliable techniques for vegetation restoration can help recover, maintain, or improve essential habitat features. In Lake Mead National Recreation Area, representing among the most intact eastern Mojave Desert landscapes supporting tortoise, required road construction destroyed soil and vegetation along a new road alignment and necessitated restoration along the old alignment. In 2008, we began an experiment to evaluate ways to improve vegetation restoration success by testing effects of slurry/water treatments during salvage on 2,105 salvaged native perennial plants. We then assessed influences of topsoil salvage, watering techniques, and species on salvage survivors placed back on the disturbed site. Survival of salvaged plants after one year of nursery care was 48% (1,017 of 2,105 plants) and varied among 23 species but not by treatment. Salvage survivors placed back on the disturbed site exhibited 49% survival (570 of 1,153 plants, which included ones recruited during nursery residence) after three years. -
The Family Emydidae Probably Has the Widest Distribution of All the Nixys
124 BULLETIN FLORIDA STATE MUSEUM Vol. 18, No. 3 ences between fossil species of a single genus that can be accepted as commensurate with the definition must vary with the investigator, the trend of the times, and the nature of the specific group being studied. As the criteria for recognizing full species in fossils are not yet standardized, it is impossible to be absolutely consistent in the definition of both fossil and Recent genera, subgenera, or species. (7) Every extinct taxon is preceded by the symbol f. (8) The present interpretation of the homonym rule requires that the names of two tortoises are affected as follows: A. Gopherus idepressus Brattstrom (1961), Miocene of California. Testudo depressa Guerin-Meneville (1828) ( =Gopherus polyphemus), Re- cent of southeastern United States. Gopherus jdepressus Brattstrom is here renamed Gopherus tbrattstromi in honor of its discoverer. B. Hadrianus frobustus Gilmore (1915), Uinta Eocene, Utah (= Geochelone [Hadrianus] trobusta). Testudo frobusta Leith-Adams (1877), Pleistocene Malta (=Geochelone [?Geochelone] trobusta). Hadrianus frobustus Gilmore is here renamed Geochelone igilmorei in honor of its discoverer. (9) Species groupings and subgeneric categories of tortoises rest on fairly secure bases; above this uncertainties increase. Placing almost all of these groups in the genus Testudo, as is most often done, does not in my opinion reflect the apparent fact that the homogeneity of tortoises is due to similar trends in several phyletic lines. Therefore the classification of Williams (1952) and Loveridge and Williams (1957), rather than the more recent but conservative treatment of Wermuth and Mertens (1961), is followed. (10) Under most generic and species accounts a section headed "Remarks" in- cludes literature citations to important publications as well as comments on presumed relationships. -
Comparative Bone Histology of the Turtle Shell (Carapace and Plastron)
Comparative bone histology of the turtle shell (carapace and plastron): implications for turtle systematics, functional morphology and turtle origins Dissertation zur Erlangung des Doktorgrades (Dr. rer. nat.) der Mathematisch-Naturwissenschaftlichen Fakultät der Rheinischen Friedrich-Wilhelms-Universität zu Bonn Vorgelegt von Dipl. Geol. Torsten Michael Scheyer aus Mannheim-Neckarau Bonn, 2007 Angefertigt mit Genehmigung der Mathematisch-Naturwissenschaftlichen Fakultät der Rheinischen Friedrich-Wilhelms-Universität Bonn 1 Referent: PD Dr. P. Martin Sander 2 Referent: Prof. Dr. Thomas Martin Tag der Promotion: 14. August 2007 Diese Dissertation ist 2007 auf dem Hochschulschriftenserver der ULB Bonn http://hss.ulb.uni-bonn.de/diss_online elektronisch publiziert. Rheinische Friedrich-Wilhelms-Universität Bonn, Januar 2007 Institut für Paläontologie Nussallee 8 53115 Bonn Dipl.-Geol. Torsten M. Scheyer Erklärung Hiermit erkläre ich an Eides statt, dass ich für meine Promotion keine anderen als die angegebenen Hilfsmittel benutzt habe, und dass die inhaltlich und wörtlich aus anderen Werken entnommenen Stellen und Zitate als solche gekennzeichnet sind. Torsten Scheyer Zusammenfassung—Die Knochenhistologie von Schildkrötenpanzern liefert wertvolle Ergebnisse zur Osteoderm- und Panzergenese, zur Rekonstruktion von fossilen Weichgeweben, zu phylogenetischen Hypothesen und zu funktionellen Aspekten des Schildkrötenpanzers, wobei Carapax und das Plastron generell ähnliche Ergebnisse zeigen. Neben intrinsischen, physiologischen Faktoren wird die -
Afherzeanmuseum Ovitates PUBLISHED by the AMERICAN MUSEUM of NATURAL HISTORY CENTRAL PARK WEST at 79TH STREET, NEW YORK 24, N.Y
AfherzeanMuseum ovitates PUBLISHED BY THE AMERICAN MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY CENTRAL PARK WEST AT 79TH STREET, NEW YORK 24, N.Y. NUMBER 21 20 DECEMBER 28, 1962 Testudo amphithorax Cope Referred to Stylemysl By WALTER AUFFENBERG' The testudinine turtle fauna of the White River Formation is of con- siderable interest, since it marks the first appearance of several important New World tortoise genera (Geochelone, Stylemys, and Gopherus). Further- marc, a number of species of tortoises referred to these genera from these beds have been described on the basis of very fragmentary materials. Thus, additional information on shell architecture and the configuration of various elements that comprise the axial and peripheral portions of the skeleton may be helpful in the determination of the validity and relation- ships of the several described forms. One of the species for which such information is highly desirable is Testudo omphithorax Cope (1873). An almost complete specimen of fossil tortoise in the University of Colorado Museum (U.C.M. No. 20575) has been compared with the material on which Cope based amphithorax (A.M.N.H. Nos. 1139, 1145, 1147) and is referred to this species without any doubt. It was collected by James Mellinger, close to the type locality of the species (Weld County, Colorado, near the head of Horse Tail Creek, Horse Tail Creek Member, White River Formation, Lower Oligocene). It consists of a complete shell and almost all the postcranial skeleton of an adult male specimen. A poor skull, not articulated with the cervical vertebrae, but with the shell when the collection was donated to I The research for the present paper has been partially supported by the National Science Foundation (Grant GI7613)_ 2 Tbe University of Colorado. -
15Th Annual Symposium on the Conservation and Biology of Tortoises and Freshwater Turtles
CHARLESTON, SOUTH CAROLINA 2017 15th Annual Symposium on the Conservation and Biology of Tortoises and Freshwater Turtles Joint Annual Meeting of the Turtle Survival Alliance and IUCN Tortoise & Freshwater Turtle Specialist Group Program and Abstracts August 7 - 9 2017 Charleston, SC Additional Conference Support Provided by: Kristin Berry, Herpetologiccal Review, John Iverson, Robert Krause,George Meyer, David Shapiro, Anders Rhodin, Brett and Nancy Stearns, and Reid Taylor Funding for the 2016 Behler Turtle Conservation Award Provided by: Brett and Nancy Stearns, Chelonian Research Foundation, Deb Behler, George Meyer, IUCN Tortoise and Freshwater Turtle Specialist Group, Leigh Ann and Matt Frankel and the Turtle Survival Alliance TSA PROJECTS TURTLE SURVIVAL ALLIANCE 2017 Conference Highlights In October 2016, the TSA opened the Keynote: Russell Mittermeier Tortoise Conservation Center in southern Madagascar that will provide long- Priorities and Opportunities in Biodiversity Conservation term care for the burgeoning number of tortoises seized from the illegal trade. Russell A. Mittermeier is The TSA manages over 7,800 Radiated Executive Vice Chair at Con- Tortoises in seven rescue facilities. servation International. He served as President of Conser- vation International from 1989 to 2014. Named a “Hero for the Planet” by TIME magazine, Mittermeier is regarded as a world leader in the field of biodiversity and tropical forest conservation. Trained as a primatologist and herpetologist, he has traveled widely in over 160 countries on seven continents, and has conducted field work in more than 30 − focusing particularly on Amazonia (especially Brazil The TSA-Myanmar team and our vet- and Suriname), the Atlantic forest region of Brazil, and Madagascar. -
Marine Vertebrate Fauna from the Late Eocene Samlat Formation of Ad-Dakhla, Southwestern Morocco
See discussions, stats, and author profiles for this publication at: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/320043669 Marine vertebrate fauna from the late Eocene Samlat Formation of Ad-Dakhla, southwestern Morocco Article in Geological Magazine · September 2017 DOI: 10.1017/S0016756817000759 CITATIONS READS 0 281 8 authors, including: Samir Zouhri Estelle Bourdon Université Hassan II de Casablanca Pierre and Marie Curie University - Paris 6 32 PUBLICATIONS 235 CITATIONS 43 PUBLICATIONS 494 CITATIONS SEE PROFILE SEE PROFILE France De LAPPARENT Jean-Claude Rage French National Centre for Scientific Research Muséum National d'Histoire Naturelle 142 PUBLICATIONS 2,758 CITATIONS 284 PUBLICATIONS 5,670 CITATIONS SEE PROFILE SEE PROFILE Some of the authors of this publication are also working on these related projects: Late Middle Miocene Khasm El-Raqaba View project Vertébrés fossiles du Maroc View project All content following this page was uploaded by Samir Zouhri on 05 November 2017. The user has requested enhancement of the downloaded file. Geol. Mag.: page 1 of 25 c Cambridge University Press 2017 1 doi:10.1017/S0016756817000759 Marine vertebrate fauna from the late Eocene Samlat Formation of Ad-Dakhla, southwestern Morocco ∗ SAMIR ZOUHRI †, BOUZIANE KHALLOUFI‡, ESTELLE BOURDON‡§, FRANCE DE LAPPARENT DE BROIN¶, JEAN-CLAUDE RAGE¶, ∗ LEILA M’HAÏDRAT , PHILIP D. GINGERICH|| & NAJIA ELBOUDALI# ∗ Laboratoire Santé & Environnement, Faculty of Science Aïn Chock, Hassan II University of Casablanca, Km 8, Bd Abdallah Ibrahim, BP 5366 Maarif 20100 -
Middle Eocene Vertebrate Fauna from the Aridal Formation, Sabkha of Gueran, Southwestern Morocco
geodiversitas 2021 43 5 e of lif pal A eo – - e h g e r a p R e t e o d l o u g a l i s C - t – n a M e J e l m a i r o DIRECTEUR DE LA PUBLICATION / PUBLICATION DIRECTOR : Bruno David, Président du Muséum national d’Histoire naturelle RÉDACTEUR EN CHEF / EDITOR-IN-CHIEF : Didier Merle ASSISTANT DE RÉDACTION / ASSISTANT EDITOR : Emmanuel Côtez ([email protected]) MISE EN PAGE / PAGE LAYOUT : Emmanuel Côtez COMITÉ SCIENTIFIQUE / SCIENTIFIC BOARD : Christine Argot (Muséum national d’Histoire naturelle, Paris) Beatrix Azanza (Museo Nacional de Ciencias Naturales, Madrid) Raymond L. Bernor (Howard University, Washington DC) Alain Blieck (chercheur CNRS retraité, Haubourdin) Henning Blom (Uppsala University) Jean Broutin (Sorbonne Université, Paris, retraité) Gaël Clément (Muséum national d’Histoire naturelle, Paris) Ted Daeschler (Academy of Natural Sciences, Philadelphie) Bruno David (Muséum national d’Histoire naturelle, Paris) Gregory D. Edgecombe (The Natural History Museum, Londres) Ursula Göhlich (Natural History Museum Vienna) Jin Meng (American Museum of Natural History, New York) Brigitte Meyer-Berthaud (CIRAD, Montpellier) Zhu Min (Chinese Academy of Sciences, Pékin) Isabelle Rouget (Muséum national d’Histoire naturelle, Paris) Sevket Sen (Muséum national d’Histoire naturelle, Paris, retraité) Stanislav Štamberg (Museum of Eastern Bohemia, Hradec Králové) Paul Taylor (The Natural History Museum, Londres, retraité) COUVERTURE / COVER : Réalisée à partir des Figures de l’article/Made from the Figures of the article. Geodiversitas est -
Tropical Ancient DNA Reveals Relationships of the Extinct Bahamian Giant Tortoise Chelonoidis Alburyorum
View metadata, citation and similar papersDownloaded at core.ac.uk from http://rspb.royalsocietypublishing.org/ on January 12, 2017 brought to you by CORE provided by Nottingham Trent Institutional Repository (IRep) Tropical ancient DNA reveals relationships rspb.royalsocietypublishing.org of the extinct Bahamian giant tortoise Chelonoidis alburyorum Christian Kehlmaier1,†, Axel Barlow2,†, Alexander K. Hastings3, Research Melita Vamberger1, Johanna L. A. Paijmans2, David W. Steadman4, Cite this article: Kehlmaier C et al. 2017 Nancy A. Albury5, Richard Franz4, Michael Hofreiter2 and Uwe Fritz1 Tropical ancient DNA reveals relationships of 1Museum of Zoology, Senckenberg Dresden, A. B. Meyer Building, 01109 Dresden, Germany the extinct Bahamian giant tortoise Chelonoidis 2Institute for Biochemistry and Biology, University of Potsdam, Karl-Liebknecht-Straße 24-25, alburyorum. Proc. R. Soc. B 284: 20162235. 14476 Potsdam, OT Golm, Germany http://dx.doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2016.2235 3Virginia Museum of Natural History, 21 Starling Avenue, Martinsville, VA 24112, USA 4Florida Museum of Natural History, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL 32611, USA 5National Museum of The Bahamas, Marsh Harbour, Abaco, The Bahamas UF, 0000-0002-6740-7214 Received: 13 October 2016 Accepted: 29 November 2016 Ancient DNA of extinct species from the Pleistocene and Holocene has provided valuable evolutionary insights. However, these are largely restricted to mam- mals and high latitudes because DNA preservation in warm climates is typically poor. In the tropics and subtropics, non-avian reptiles constitute a sig- nificant part of the fauna and little is known about the genetics of the many Subject Category: extinct reptiles from tropical islands. We have reconstructed the near-complete Palaeobiology mitochondrial genome of an extinct giant tortoise from the Bahamas (Chelonoidis alburyorum) using an approximately 1 000-year-old humerus from a water-filled Subject Areas: sinkhole (blue hole) on Great Abaco Island.