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Serpentes

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Source Data

Source	ID	Link
Global Biodiversity Information Facility ID (GBIF)	Not linked to a GBIF record.
PaleoBioDB ID (PBDB)	38069	https://paleobiodb.org/classic/checkTaxonInfo?taxon_no=38069

Rank

unranked clade (PBDB)

Taxonomy (PBDB)

Life : Animalia : Chordata : Reptilia : Squamata : Serpentes

Classification
(PBDB,GBIF)

Rank	Name	Author
-	Eukaryota
-	Opisthokonta	Cavalier-Smith 1987
kingdom	Animalia
-	Triploblastica	Lankester 1877
-	Nephrozoa	Jondelius et al. 2002
-	Deuterostomia	Grobben 1908
phylum	Chordata	Haeckel 1847
subphylum	Vertebrata	Lamarck 1801
superclass	Gnathostomata	Gegenbauer 1874
-	Osteichthyes
-	Sarcopterygii	Romer 1955
subclass	Dipnotetrapodomorpha
subclass	Tetrapodomorpha
-	Tetrapoda
-	Reptiliomorpha	Säve-Söderbergh 1934
-	Anthracosauria	Säve-Söderbergh 1934
-	Batrachosauria
-	Cotylosauria
-	Amniota	Haeckel 1866
-	Sauropsida	Huxley 1864
class	Reptilia	Laurenti 1768
subclass	Eureptilia
-	Romeriida	Gauthier et al. 1988
-	Diapsida
-	Eosuchia
-	Neodiapsida	Benton 1985
-	Sauria	Gauthier 1984
-	Lepidosauromorpha
superorder	Lepidosauria
order	Squamata	Oppel 1811
suborder	Ophidia
order	Serpentes

Common Name

snake

Opinions (PBDB)

Name	Rank	Opinion	Evidence	Author
Serpentes	suborder	belongs to Squamata	stated without evidence	Hay, 1902
Serpentes	order	subjective synonym of Ophidia	implied	Romer, 1966
Serpentes	suborder	belongs to Squamata	stated with evidence	Kuhn, 1966
Serpentes	order	belongs to Reptilia	stated without evidence	Estes and Berberian, 1970
Serpentes	order	belongs to Squamata	stated with evidence	Benton, 1985
Serpentes	order	belongs to Scleroglossa	stated with evidence	Estes et al., 1988
Serpentes	order	belongs to Squamata	implied	Carroll, 1988
Serpentes	order	belongs to Squamata	stated without evidence	Holman et al., 1991
Serpentes	unranked clade	belongs to Ophidia	stated with evidence	Lee and Caldwell, 2000
Serpentes	order	belongs to Ophidia	stated without evidence	Lee and Scanlon, 2002
Serpentes	unranked clade	belongs to Reptilia	implied	Augé and Rage, 2006
Serpentes	order	belongs to Squamata	implied	Venczel and Stiuca, 2008
Serpentes	unranked clade	belongs to Squamata	stated without evidence	Rage et al., 2008
Serpentes	unranked clade	belongs to Toxicofera	stated with evidence	Pyron et al., 2013
Serpentes	order	belongs to Squamata	implied	Vianey-Liaud et al., 2014
Serpentes	unranked clade	belongs to Ophidia	stated with evidence	Caldwell et al., 2015
Serpentes	order	belongs to Squamata	stated without evidence	Stocker and Kirk, 2016

Status (PBDB)

extant

Taxon Size (PBDB)

661

Extant Size (PBDB)

262 (40%)

First Recorded Appearance

168 - 165 Ma
Middle Jurassic

Environment

terrestrial (based on Diapsida)

Motility

actively mobile (based on Osteichthyes)

Taphonomy

phosphatic (based on Vertebrata)

Primary Reference (PBDB)

R. A. Stirton. 1953. Vertebrate paleontology and continental stratigraphy in Colombia. Geological Society of America Bulletin 64:603-622

Subtaxa

Name	Status	Common Name(s)	Fossil Occurrences	Oldest	Youngest
Alethinophidia infraorder	listed (PBDB)		2,737	105 Ma Early/Lower Cretaceous	0 Ma Extant
Cholophidia ✝ infraorder	listed (PBDB)		10	113 Ma Early/Lower Cretaceous	83.6 Ma Late/Upper Cretaceous
Scolecophidia infraorder	listed (PBDB)		45	59.2 Ma Paleocene	0 Ma Extant
Typhlopoidea infraorder	listed (PBDB)				0 Ma Extant
Madtsoiidae ✝ family	accepted (GBIF) listed (PBDB)		99	99.6 Ma Late/Upper Cretaceous	0.13 Ma Pleistocene
Diablophis ✝ genus	doubtful (GBIF) listed (PBDB)		2	151 Ma Late Jurassic	151 Ma Late Jurassic
Dinilysia ✝ genus	accepted (GBIF) listed (PBDB)		6	86.3 Ma Late/Upper Cretaceous	83.5 Ma Late/Upper Cretaceous
Eophis ✝ genus	doubtful (GBIF) listed (PBDB)		1	168 Ma Middle Jurassic	168 Ma Middle Jurassic
Goinophis ✝ genus	accepted (GBIF) listed (PBDB)		3	30.8 Ma Oligocene	26.3 Ma Oligocene
Hoplocephalus genus	accepted (GBIF) listed (PBDB)				0 Ma Extant
Lunaophis ✝ genus	doubtful (GBIF) listed (PBDB)		1	101 Ma Late/Upper Cretaceous	101 Ma Late/Upper Cretaceous
Ophidium genus	accepted (GBIF) listed (PBDB)				0 Ma Extant
Portugalophis ✝ genus	doubtful (GBIF) listed (PBDB)	Snake	1	157 Ma Jurassic	157 Ma Jurassic
Protagras ✝ genus	accepted (GBIF) listed (PBDB)		1	50.3 Ma Eocene	50.3 Ma Eocene
Pseudonaja genus	accepted (GBIF) listed (PBDB)		4	2.59 Ma Pleistocene	0 Ma Extant
Tomodon ✝ genus	accepted (GBIF) listed (PBDB)
Xiaophis ✝ genus	listed (PBDB)		1	99.6 Ma Late/Upper Cretaceous	99.6 Ma Late/Upper Cretaceous

Synonymy List

Year	Name and Author
1758	Serpentes Linnaeus p. 613
1853	Ophidion Pomel
1853	Ophidion antiquus Pomel
1853	Ophidioniscus Pomel
1853	Ophidioniscus antiquus Pomel
1870	Coluber steinheimensis Fraas p. 291
1880	Botrophis de Rochebrune
1880	Botrophis gaudryi de Rochebrune
1902	Serpentes Hay p. 478
1966	Serpentes Kuhn p. 59
1970	Serpentes Estes and Berberian p. 6
1981	Serpentes Thurmond and Jones p. 162
1985	Serpentes Benton p. 157
1988	Serpentes Carroll

Year	Name and Author
1988	Serpentes Estes et al.
1991	Serpentes Holman et al. p. 1
1996	Serpentes Frank and Ramus
2000	Serpentes Lee and Caldwell
2002	Serpentes Lee and Scanlon
2006	Serpentes Augé and Rage p. 244
2008	Serpentes Rage et al. p. 391
2008	Serpentes Venczel and Stiuca p. 755
2010	Serpentes Wilson et al. p. 1
2013	Serpentes Pyron et al.
2014	Serpentes Vianey-Liaud et al. p. 575
2015	Serpentes Caldwell et al.
2016	Serpentes McCartney and Seiffert p. 2
2016	Serpentes Stocker and Kirk

References

Stirton R. A. (1953) Vertebrate paleontology and continental stratigraphy in Colombia, Geological Society of America Bulletin 64, 603-622

Fraas O. Die Fauna von Steinheim. Mit Rücksicht auf die miocänen Säugethier- und Vogelreste des Steinheimer Beckens, Jahreshefte des Vereins für vaterländische Naturkunde in Württemberg 26, 145-306

Hay O. P. (1902) , Bibliography and Catalogue of the Fossil Vertebrata of North America. Bulletin of the United States Geological Survey 179, 1-868

Kuhn O. W. M. (1966) , Die Reptilien. System und Stammesgeschichte [The Reptiles. Systematics and Phylogeny.], 1-154

Estes R., Berberian P. (1970) Paleoecology of a Late Cretaceous vertebrate community from Montana, Breviora 343, 1-35

Thurmond J. T., Jones D. E. (1981) , Fossil Vertebrates of Alabama, 1-244

Benton M. J. (1985) Classification and phylogeny of the diapsid reptiles, Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society 84 2, 97-164

Carroll R. L. (1988) , Vertebrate Paleontology and Evolution, 1-698

Estes R., de Queiroz K., et al (1988) Phylogenetic relationships within Squamata, Phylogenetic relationships of the lizard families, 119-282

Holman J. A., Dockery D. T., et al (1991) Paleogene snakes of Mississippi, Mississippi Geology 11 1, 1-12

Frank N., Ramus E. (1996) A Complete Guide to Scientific and Common Names of Reptiles and Amphibians of the World, 1-377

Lee M. S. Y., Caldwell M. W. (2000) Adriosaurus and the affinities of mosasaurs, dolichosaurs, and snakes, Journal of Paleontology 74 3, 915-937

Lee M. S. Y., Scanlon J. D. (2002) The Cretaceous marine squamate Mesoleptos and the origin of snakes, Bulletin of the Natural History Museum: Zoology 68 2, 131-142

Augé M., Rage J.-C. (2006) Herpetofaunas from the Upper Paleocene and Lower Eocene of Morocco, Annales de Paléontologie 92 3, 235-253 doi:10.1016/j.annpal.2005.09.001

Rage J.-C., Folie A., et al (2008) A diverse snake fauna from the early Eocene of Vastan Lignite Mine, Gujarat, India, Acta Palaeontologica Polonica 53 3, 391-403

Venczel M., Stiuca E. (2008) Late middle Miocene amphibians and squamate reptiles from Taut, Romania, Geodiversitas 30 4, 731-763

Wilson J. A., Mohabey D. M., et al (2010) Predation upon hatchling dinosaurs by a new snake from the Late Cretaceous of India, PLoS Biology 8 3, e1000322 doi:doi:10.1371/journal.pbio.1000322

Pyron R. A., Burbrink F. T., et al (2013) A phylogeny and revised classification of Squamata, including 4161 species of lizards and snakes, BMC Evolutionary Biology 13 1, 1-53 doi:10.1186/1471-2148-13-93

Vianey-Liaud M., Comte B., et al (2014) A new early late Oligocene (MP 26) continental vertebrate fauna from Saint-Privat-des-Vieux (Alès Basin, Gard, Southern France), Geodiversitas 36 4, 565-622 doi:10.5252/g2014n4a4

Caldwell M. W., Nydam R. L., et al (2015) The oldest known snakes from the Middle Jurassic-Lower Cretaceous provide insights on snake evolution, Nature Communications 6 5996, 1-11 doi:10.1038/ncomms6996

McCartney J. A., Seiffert E. R. (2016) A late Eocene snake fauna from the Fayum Depression, Egypt, Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology 36 1, e1029580 doi:10.1080/02724634.2015.1029580

Stocker M. R., Kirk E. C. (2016) The first amphisbaenians from Texas, with notes on other squamates from the middle Eocene Purple Bench locality, Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology e1094081, 1-15 doi:10.1080/02724634.2016.1094081

Data courtesy of: PBDB: The Paleobiology Database, Creative Commons CC-BY licenced. , GBIF: the Global Biodiversity Information Facility, various licences, iDigBio, various licences, and EOL: The Encyclopedia of Life (Open Data Public Domain). Because fossils are made of minerals too!

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