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Gigantophis âśť

Description

Gigantophis garstini is an extinct giant snake. Before the Paleocene constrictor genus Titanoboa was described from Colombia in 2009, Gigantophis was regarded as the largest snake ever recorded. Gigantophis lived about 40 million years ago during the Eocene epoch, and in the Paleogene Period within the northern Sahara, where Egypt and Algeria are now located.


Source Data
SourceIDLink
Global Biodiversity Information Facility ID (GBIF)4820529https://www.gbif.org/species/4820529
PaleoBioDB ID (PBDB)38101https://paleobiodb.org/classic/checkTaxonInfo?taxon_no=38101
Rankgenus
Taxonomy (GBIF)Life : Animalia : Chordata : Reptilia : Squamata : Boidae : Gigantophis
Taxonomy (PBDB)Life : Animalia : Chordata : Reptilia : Squamata : Madtsoiidae : Gigantophis
Taxonomic Status (GBIF)accepted
Classification
(PBDB,GBIF)
RankNameAuthor
-Eukaryota
-OpisthokontaCavalier-Smith 1987
kingdomAnimalia
-TriploblasticaLankester 1877
-NephrozoaJondelius et al. 2002
-DeuterostomiaGrobben 1908
phylumChordataHaeckel 1847
subphylumVertebrataLamarck 1801
superclassGnathostomataGegenbauer 1874
-Osteichthyes
-SarcopterygiiRomer 1955
subclassDipnotetrapodomorpha
subclassTetrapodomorpha
-Tetrapoda
-ReptiliomorphaSäve-Söderbergh 1934
-AnthracosauriaSäve-Söderbergh 1934
-Batrachosauria
-Cotylosauria
-AmniotaHaeckel 1866
-SauropsidaHuxley 1864
classReptiliaLaurenti 1768
subclassEureptilia
-RomeriidaGauthier et al. 1988
-Diapsida
-Eosuchia
-NeodiapsidaBenton 1985
-SauriaGauthier 1984
-Lepidosauromorpha
superorderLepidosauria
orderSquamataOppel 1811
suborderOphidia
-Serpentes
familyMadtsoiidae
genusGigantophisAndrews 1901
Scientific NameGigantophis Andrews, 1901
Name Published InGeol. Mag., (N. S.) Dec. 3, 8
Opinions (PBDB)
NameRankOpinionEvidenceAuthor
Gigantophisgenusbelongs to Boidaestated without evidenceAndrews, 1906
Gigantophisgenusbelongs to Madtsoiinaestated without evidenceHoffstetter, 1961
Gigantophisgenusbelongs to BoidaeimpliedCarroll, 1988
Gigantophisgenusbelongs to Madtsoiidaestated without evidenceMohabey et al., 2011
Gigantophisgenusbelongs to Madtsoiidaestated with evidenceRio and Mannion, 2017
Status (PBDB)extinct
Taxon Size (PBDB)2
First Recorded Appearance41.3 - 33.9 Ma
Paleogene
Last Recorded Appearance38.0 - 33.9 Ma
Paleogene
Environmentterrestrial (based on Diapsida)
Motilityactively mobile (based on Osteichthyes)
Taphonomyphosphatic (based on Vertebrata)
Primary Reference (PBDB)R. L. Carroll. 1988. Vertebrate Paleontology and Evolution
Wikipediahttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gigantophis

Fossil Distribution

Subtaxa

NameStatusCommon Name(s)Fossil OccurrencesOldestYoungest
Gigantophis garstini âśť
species
accepted (GBIF)
listed (PBDB)
341.3 Ma
Eocene
38.0 Ma
Eocene

Synonymy List

YearName and Author
1901Gigantophis Andrews
1906Gigantophis Andrews p. 307
1961Gigantophis Hoffstetter p. 159
1988Gigantophis Carroll
2011Gigantophis Mohabey et al. p. 592
2016Gigantophis McCartney and Seiffert p. 2
2017Gigantophis Rio and Mannion

References

Carroll R. L. (1988) , Vertebrate Paleontology and Evolution, 1-698
Andrews C. W. (1906) , A Descriptive Catalogue of the Tertiary Vertebrata of Fayum, Egypt, 1-324
Hoffstetter R (1961) Noveaux restes d’un serpent Boidé (Madtsoia madagascariensis nov. sp.) dans le Crétacé Supérieur de Madagascar, Bulletin du Muséum national d’Historie naturelle, Série 2, Paris 33, 152-160
Mohabey D. M., Head J. J., et al (2011) A new species of the snake Madtsoia from the Upper Cretaceous of India and its paleobiogeographic implications, Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology 31 3, 588-595 doi:10.1080/02724634.2011.560220
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
Rio J. P., Mannion P. D. (2017) The osteology of the giant snake Gigantophis garstini from the upper Eocene of North Africa and its bearing on the phylogenetic relationships and biogeography of Madtsoiidae, Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology 37 4, e1347179:1-20 doi:10.1080/02724634.2017.1347179
Nomenclator Zoologicus. A list of the names of genera and subgenera in zoology from the tenth edition of Linnaeus, 1758 to the end of 2004. Digitised by uBio from vols. 1-9 of Neave (ed.), 1939-1996 plus supplementary digital-only volume. http://ubio.org/NomenclatorZoologicus (as at 2006). - via The Interim Register of Marine and Nonmarine Genera
SN2000: Brands, S. J. (compiler) 1989-2005. Systema Naturae 2000. Amsterdam, The Netherlands (2006 version). Available online at http://sn2000.taxonomy.nl/. - via The Interim Register of Marine and Nonmarine Genera
as per family - via The Interim Register of Marine and Nonmarine Genera
Geol. Mag., (N. S.) Dec. 3, 8 - via The Interim Register of Marine and Nonmarine Genera
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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