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Giant Boid Snake from the Palaeocene Neotropics Reveals Hotter Past Equatorial Temperatures

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Giant Boid Snake from the Palaeocene Neotropics Reveals Hotter Past Equatorial Temperatures Vol 457 | 5 February 2009 | doi:10.1038/nature07671 LETTERS Giant boid snake from the Palaeocene neotropics reveals hotter past equatorial temperatures Jason J. Head1, Jonathan I. Bloch2, Alexander K. Hastings2, Jason R. Bourque2, Edwin A. Cadena2,3, Fabiany A. Herrera2,3, P. David Polly4 & Carlos A. Jaramillo3 The largest extant snakes live in the tropics of South America and ecology for the giant snake, and an earliest Cenozoic origin of neo- southeast Asia1–3 where high temperatures facilitate the evolution of tropical vertebrate faunas. large body sizes among air-breathing animals whose body tempera- Serpentes Linnaeus 1758 tures are dependant on ambient environmental temperatures (poi- 4,5 Boidae Gray 1825 kilothermy) . Very little is known about ancient tropical terrestrial Boinae Gray 1825 ecosystems, limiting our understanding of the evolution of giant Titanoboa cerrejonensis gen. et sp. nov. snakes and their relationship to climate in the past. Here we describe a boid snake from the oldest known neotropical rainforest fauna Etymology. The generic name combines ‘Titan’ (Greek, giant) with from the Cerrejo´n Formation (58–60 Myr ago) in northeastern ‘Boa’, type genus for Boinae. The specific name refers to the Cerrejo´n Colombia. We estimate a body length of 13 m and a mass of region, Guajira Department, Colombia. The full translation is ‘titanic 1,135 kg, making it the largest known snake6–9. The maximum size boa from Cerrejo´n’. of poikilothermic animals at a given temperature is limited by meta- Holotype. UF/IGM 1, a single precloacal vertebra (Fig. 1a–d). bolic rate4, and a snake of this size would require a minimum mean Locality. La Puente Pit, Cerrejo´n Coal Mine, Guajira Peninsula, annual temperature of 30–34 6C to survive. This estimate is consis- Colombia (palaeolatitude 5.5u N; Supplementary Fig. 1). tent with hypotheses of hot Palaeocene neotropics with high con- Horizon. Single claystone layer, middle segment of the Cerrejo´n 10 centrations of atmospheric CO2 based on climate models . Formation (Supplementary Fig. 2); middle–late Palaeocene epoch Comparison of palaeotemperature estimates from the equator to (58–60 Myr ago), palynological zone Cu-02 (ref. 11). those from South American mid-latitudes indicates a relatively Referred material. UF/IGM 2 (paratype), nearly complete precloacal steep temperature gradient during the early Palaeogene greenhouse, vertebra (Fig. 1g, h). UF/IGM 3–UF/IGM 28, 184 additional precloa- similar to that of today. Depositional environments and faunal cal vertebrae and ribs representing 28 individuals (Supplementary composition of the Cerrejo´n Formation indicate an anaconda-like Table 1). a bcd e f 10 cm gh i j Figure 1 | Titanoboa cerrejonensis precloacal vertebrae. a, Type specimen (UF/IGM 3) in dorsal view (e). Articulated precloacal vertebra and rib (UF/ (UF/IGM 1) in anterior view compared to scale with a precloacal vertebra IGM 4) in anterior view (f). Precloacal vertebra (paratype specimen UF/ from approximately 65% along the precloacal column of a 3.4 m Boa IGM 2) in anterior view (g) and ventral view (h). Precloacal vertebra (UF/ constrictor. Type specimen (UF/IGM 1) shown in posterior view (b), left IGM 5) in anterior view (i) and posterior view (j). All specimens are to scale. lateral view (c) and dorsal view (d). Seven articulated precloacal vertebrae 1Department of Biology, University of Toronto, Mississauga, Ontario L5L 1C6, Canada. 2Florida Museum of Natural History, University of Florida, Gainesville, Florida 32611-7800, USA. 3Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, Box 0843-03092, Balboa, Ancon Republic of Panama. 4Department of Geological Sciences, Indiana University, Bloomington, Indiana 47405-1405, USA. 715 ©2009 Macmillan Publishers Limited. All rights reserved LETTERS NATURE | Vol 457 | 5 February 2009 Diagnosis. Extremely large-bodied boine snake with robust precloa- TBL (m) cal vertebrae possessing a uniquely T-shaped neural spine composed 13579111315 of a transversely expanded posterior margin and distinctly narrow, Elapidae blade-like anterior process (Fig. 1a–d, i, j). Subcentral and lateral Lamprophiinae foramina are extremely reduced. Colubroidea The vertebrae possess a character combination unique to boine Homalopsinae snakes. These are: the presence of paracotylar fossae and foramina; Viperidae straight, posteromedially angled interzygapophyseal ridges; and the Xenodermatidae vaulted, bi-angled posterior margin of the neural arch. These charac- Acrochordus ters are also present in some madtsoiid snakes; however, all specimens Pareatidae of Titanoboa possess short, posteriorly angled prezygapophyseal Bolyeriidae accessory processes as in boines but unlike madtsoiids, and lack the Boinae parazygantral foramina and laterally extensive synapophyses that dia- Erycinae gnose Madtsoiidae12. Among extant boines, Titanoboa is united with Ungaliophiinae Boa constrictor on the basis of dorsolaterally positioned paracotylar Pythonidae fossae and foramina. Uropeltinae Vertebrae of Titanoboa are the largest recovered for any extant or Cylindrophis fossil snake6–8. Body size can be predicted from vertebral dimensions in Tropidophiinae taxa where body length evolved by increasing the size of vertebrae Anilius scytale instead of their number. This is true for all extant giant boids and Typhlopidae pythonids13 and is inferred for Titanoboa because it is united with Anomalopedidae Leptotyphlopidae Boa within Boinae. Vertebral size changes along the vertebral column Madtsoiidae† in snakes, and the position of isolated fossil vertebrae, must be deter- Palaeopheidae† mined before body length can be reconstructed. We estimated verteb- Pachyophiidae† ral position by matching the vertebral shape of two undistorted specimens of Titanoboa to a composite geometric morphometric Figure 2 | Body size ranges for major snake clades plotted along 28–30 model vertebral column14 constructed from extant boines (see phylogeny (Supplementary Table 3). Controversial fossil (dagger) Methods). Both vertebrae were estimated to be located 60–65% back lineages Madtsoiidae, Pachyophiidae and Palaeopheidae were placed as an unresolved polytomy at the base of the snake crown. The size range increase along the precloacal vertebral column from the axis–atlas complex. in Boinae based on the Titanoboa cerrejonensis mean TBL estimate is in dark Regressions of vertebral width from this region against body lengths red; maximum TBL estimate for Titanoboa is in pink. for extant boines indicate a snout–vent length (SVL) of 12.01 6 2.04 m (39 ft) and a total body length (TBL) of 12.82 6 2.18 m (42 ft) for snake could survive is 32–33 uC, ranging between 30 uC and 34 uCfor Titanoboa. Incorporating SVL values of this study into the relationship body sizes between 11 m and 15 m (Fig. 3). between length and body mass determined for extant Eunectes murinus These temperature estimates are consistent with hot Palaeogene (green anaconda)2 and Python natalensis (southern African python)15 climate models requiring high atmospheric pCO2 concentrations of results in an estimated mass for Titanoboa of 1,135 kg (1.27 ton) with a 18 range of 652–1,819 kg (0.73–2.03 ton). approximately 2,000 parts per million , and are slightly higher than temperatures derived from planktonic foraminifer oxygen isotopes Body size estimates for Titanoboa greatly exceed the largest veri- 19 fiable body lengths for extant Python and Eunectes, which are by 1–5 uC . These estimates exceed MATs derived from coeval ´ 20 approximately 9 m and 7 m, respectively1. Maxima for these taxa Cerrejon palaeofloras by 6–8 uC , but palaeotemperatures based are extraordinary, however, and surveys of large populations have on fossil leaf assemblages from riparian and wetland habitats of rain- forests are underestimates21. Palaeotemperature estimates of 30– not recovered individuals exceeding 6 m TBL for Python and 6.5 m 22 TBL for Eunectes2,3,15,16. Conversely, the record of Titanoboa includes 34 uC exceed MAT maxima of modern tropical forests . However, the high rainfall estimates from the Cerrejo´n palaeoflora (,4 m per eight individuals represented by vertebrae of approximately the same 11 year ) combined with increased pCO2 could have maintained forest size as the elements used to estimate TBL (Fig. 1, Supplementary 23 Table 1), indicating that extremely large body size was common in floras under higher temperature conditions . the taxon. Titanoboa is larger than all other giant fossil taxa, including Palaeotemperature estimates near the equator allow reconstruction palaeopheids and madtsoiids6,9, making it the largest known snake of latitudinal temperature gradients across South America during the (Fig. 2). Discovery of Titanoboa extends the known range of body Palaeogene. MAT for the middle Palaeocene of Argentina (palaeola- 24 lengths in snakes by more than two orders of magnitude, between titude ,51u S) is 14.1 uC 6 2.6 uC , indicating a latitudinal gra- TBLs of 10 cm (Leptotyphlops carlae) and 12.8 m. Our estimates of dient of 13–22 uC between 5u N and 51u S, with a midpoint of 18 uC 21 body size also demonstrate that Titanoboa is the largest known non- (accounting for taphonomic bias suggests MAT of 17.6 uC 6 3.6 uC marine vertebrate from the Palaeocene and early Eocene17. with a gradient midpoint of 15.4 uC). Our midpoint estimates during LargebodysizeinTitanoboa provides significant information on the early Palaeogene greenhouse approximate the modern temper- equatorial climates during the Palaeogene. Snakes have body tempera- ature difference
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