Largest known madtsoiid snake from warm Eocene period of India suggests intercontinental Gondwana dispersal.

Autor: Datta D; Department of Earth Sciences, Indian Institute of Technology Roorkee, Roorkee, Uttarakhand, 247667, India. debajitdatta.pd@es.iitr.ac.in., Bajpai S; Department of Earth Sciences, Indian Institute of Technology Roorkee, Roorkee, Uttarakhand, 247667, India. sunil.bajpai@es.iitr.ac.in.
Jazyk: angličtina
Zdroj: Scientific reports [Sci Rep] 2024 Apr 18; Vol. 14 (1), pp. 8054. Date of Electronic Publication: 2024 Apr 18.
DOI: 10.1038/s41598-024-58377-0
Abstrakt: Here we report the discovery of fossils representing partial vertebral column of a giant madtsoiid snake from an early Middle Eocene (Lutetian, ~ 47 Ma) lignite-bearing succession in Kutch, western India. The estimated body length of ~ 11-15 m makes this new taxon (Vasuki indicus gen et sp. nov.) the largest known madtsoiid snake, which thrived during a warm geological interval with average temperatures estimated at ~ 28 °C. Phylogenetically, Vasuki forms a distinct clade with the Indian Late Cretaceous taxon Madtsoia pisdurensis and the North African Late Eocene Gigantophis garstini. Biogeographic considerations, seen in conjunction with its inter-relationship with other Indian and North African madtsoiids, suggest that Vasuki represents a relic lineage that originated in India. Subsequent India-Asia collision at ~ 50 Ma led to intercontinental dispersal of this lineage from the subcontinent into North Africa through southern Eurasia.
(© 2024. The Author(s).)
Databáze: MEDLINE
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