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Coluber

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Source Data

Source	ID	Link
Global Biodiversity Information Facility ID (GBIF)	Not linked to a GBIF record.
PaleoBioDB ID (PBDB)	38129	https://paleobiodb.org/classic/checkTaxonInfo?taxon_no=38129

Rank

genus (PBDB)

Taxonomy (PBDB)

Life : Animalia : Chordata : Reptilia : Squamata : Colubridae : Coluber

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
-	Serpentes
infraorder	Alethinophidia	Nopcsa 1923
-	Macrostomata	Ritgen 1828
superfamily	Booidea	Gray 1825
-	Caenophidia	Hoffstetter 1939
superfamily	Colubroidea	Oppel 1811
family	Colubridae	Oppel 1811
subfamily	Colubrinae	Oppel 1811
genus	Coluber	Linnaeus 1758

Common Name

racer

Opinions (PBDB)

Name	Rank	Opinion	Evidence	Author
Coluber	genus	belongs to Colubridae	stated with evidence	Cope, 1875
Coluber	genus	belongs to Colubridae	stated without evidence	Hay, 1902
Coluber	genus	belongs to Colubrinae	stated without evidence	Holman, 1985
Coluber	genus	belongs to Colubridae	implied	Bachmayer and Szyndlar, 1987
Coluber	genus	belongs to Colubrinae	stated with evidence	Parmley and Holman, 1995
Coluber	genus	belongs to Colubrinae	stated without evidence	Parmley and Hunter, 2010
Coluber	genus	belongs to Colubrinae	implied	Cernansky et al., 2015

Status (PBDB)

extant

Taxon Size (PBDB)

Extant Size (PBDB)

3 (23%)

First Recorded Appearance

33.9 - 28.4 Ma
Oligocene

Environment

terrestrial (based on Booidea)

Motility

actively mobile (based on Osteichthyes)

Diet

carnivore (based on Coluber)

Taphonomy

phosphatic (based on Vertebrata)

Primary Reference (PBDB)

C. Linnaeus. 1758. Systema Naturae per Regna Tria Naturae, Secundum Classes, Ordines, Genera, Species, cum Characteribus, Differentiis, Synonymis, Locis. Editio Decima 1:1-824

Fossil Distribution

Subtaxa

Name	Status	Common Name(s)	Fossil Occurrences	Oldest	Youngest
Coluber acuminatus ✝ species	listed (PBDB)		1	1.80 Ma Pleistocene	1.80 Ma Pleistocene
Coluber cadurci ✝ species	accepted (GBIF) listed (PBDB)		14	33.9 Ma Oligocene	20.0 Ma Miocene
Coluber caspioides ✝ species	accepted (GBIF) listed (PBDB)		6	20.0 Ma Miocene	16.0 Ma Miocene
Coluber caspius species	listed (PBDB)		2	7.25 Ma Miocene	0 Ma Extant
Coluber constrictor species	accepted (GBIF) listed (PBDB)	Black Racer	32	16.0 Ma Miocene	0 Ma Extant
Coluber dolnicensis ✝ species	accepted (GBIF) listed (PBDB)		3	20.0 Ma Miocene	12.8 Ma Miocene
Coluber hungaricus ✝ species	listed (PBDB)		7	16.0 Ma Miocene	5.33 Ma Miocene
Coluber merkurensis species	accepted (GBIF) listed (PBDB)
Nanus planicarinatus ✝ species	accepted (GBIF) listed (PBDB)		2	8.70 Ma Miocene	8.70 Ma Miocene
Coluber robertmertensi species	accepted (GBIF) listed (PBDB)		1	2.59 Ma Pleistocene	2.59 Ma Pleistocene
Coluber suevicus ✝ species	listed (PBDB)		2	20.0 Ma Miocene	12.8 Ma Miocene
Coluber viridiflavus species	listed (PBDB)		19	4.20 Ma Pliocene	0.78 Ma Pleistocene

Synonymy List

Year	Name and Author
1758	Coluber Linnaeus p. 216
1853	Bascanion Baird and Girard
1875	Coluber Cope p. 39
1877	Coluber lafonti Filhol
1880	Scytalophis lafonti de Rochebrune
1889	Coluber beggiatoi De Zigno
1889	Coluber ombonii De Zigno p. 113
1902	Bascanion Hay p. 480
1902	Coluber Hay p. 480
1977	Coluber Kotsakis

Year	Name and Author
1979	Coluber Behler and King
1985	Nanus Bachmayer and Szyndlar
1985	Coluber Holman
1987	Coluber Bachmayer and Szyndlar p. 30
1987	Coluber Szyndlar p. 65
1988	Coluber Carroll
1995	Coluber Parmley and Holman p. 82
2010	Coluber Parmley and Hunter p. 529
2015	Coluber Cernansky et al. p. 118

References

Linnaeus C. , Systema Naturae per Regna Tria Naturae, Secundum Classes, Ordines, Genera, Species, cum Characteribus, Differentiis, Synonymis, Locis. Editio Decima 1, 1-824 doi:10.5962/bhl.title.542

Cope E. D. Check-list of North American Batrachia and Reptilia; with a systematic list of the higher groups, and an essay on geographical distribution. Based on the specimens contained in the U. S. National Museum, Bulletin of the United States National Museum 1, 1-109

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

Kotsakis T. (1977) I resti di Anfibi e Rettili pleistocenici della grotta 'Bate' (Rethymnon, Creta), Rendicoti della Accademia Nazionale dei Lincei 6, 571-582

Behler J. L., King F. W. (1979) , National Audubon Society Field Guide to Reptiles and Amphibians: North America, 1-743

Bachmayer F., Szyndlar Z. (1985) Ophidians (Reptilia: Serpentes) from the Kohfidisch fissures of Burgenland, Austria, Annalen des Naturhistorischen Museums in Wien, Serie A: Mineralogie und Petrographie, Geologie und Palaeontologie, Anthropologie Praehistorie 87, 79-100

Holman J. A. (1985) Herpetofauna of Ladds Quarry, National Geographic Research 1 3, 423-436

Bachmayer F, Szyndlar Z (1987) A second contribution to the ophidian fauna (Reptilia: Serpentes) of Kohfidisch, Austria, Annalen des Naturhistorischen Museums in Wien, Serie A: Mineralogie und Petrographie, Geologie und Palaeontologie, Anthropologie Praehistorie 88, 25-39

Szyndlar Z. (1987) Snakes from the Lower Miocene Locality of Dolnice (Czechoslovakia), Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology 7 1, 55-71

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

Parmley D., Holman J. A. (1995) Hemphillian (late Miocene) snakes from Nebraska, with comments on Arikareean through Blancan snakes of midcontinental North America, Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology 15 1, 79-95

Parmley D., Hunter K. B. (2010) Fossil snakes of the Clarendonian (late Miocene) Pratt Slide local fauna of Nebraska, with the description of a new natricine colubrid, Journal of Herpetology 44 4, 526-543 doi:10.1670/09-248.1

Cernansky A., Rage J. C., et al (2015) The Early Miocene squamates of Amöneburg (Germany): the first stages of modern squamates in Europe, Journal of Systematic Palaeontology 13 2, 97-128 doi:10.1080/14772019.2014.897266

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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