Palaeophiidae

Palaeophiidae
Temporal range: Late Cretaceous-Late Eocene
~70.6–33.9 Ma
Fossil vertebrae of Palaeophis maghrebianus from Khouribga (Morocco)
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Reptilia
Order: Squamata
Suborder: Serpentes
Superfamily: Acrochordoidea
Family: †Palaeophiidae
Lydekker 1888

Palaeophiidae is an extinct family of marine snake within the infraorder Alethinophidia.

Species within this family lived from the Late Cretaceous to the Late Eocene, approximately from 70.6 to 33.9 million years ago.[1] Phylogenetic analysis has proposed them as being related to the extant file snakes (family Acrochordidae),[2] although these results have been disputed since[3] and new analysis show this relationship as poorly supported.[4]

  1. ^ Palaeophiidae at Fossilworks.org
  2. ^ Snetkov, P. B. (2011-06-14). "Vertebrae of the sea snake Palaeophis nessovi Averianov (Acrochordoidea, Palaeophiidae) from the Eocene of western Kazakhstan and phylogenetic analysis of the superfamily Acrochordoidea". Paleontological Journal. 45 (3): 305–313. doi:10.1134/S0031030111030129. ISSN 1555-6174. S2CID 84595216.
  3. ^ Houssaye, Alexandra; Rage, Jean-Claude; Bardet, Nathalie; Vincent, Peggy; Amaghzaz, Mbarek; Meslouh, Said (2013). "New highlights about the enigmatic marine snake Palaeophis maghrebianus (Palaeophiidae; Palaeophiinae) from the Ypresian (Lower Eocene) phosphates of Morocco: NEW HIGHLIGHTS ABOUT PALAEOPHIS MAGHREBIANUS". Palaeontology. 56 (3): 647–661. doi:10.1111/pala.12008.
  4. ^ Folie, Annelise; Mees, Florias; De Putter, Thierry; Smith, Thierry (2021-07-01). "Presence of the large aquatic snake Palaeophis africanus in the middle Eocene marine margin of the Congo Basin, Cabinda, Angola". Geobios. Proceedings of the PalEurAfrica project international symposium Evolution and Paleoenvironment of Early Modern Vertebrates during the Paleogene. 66–67: 45–54. doi:10.1016/j.geobios.2020.11.002. ISSN 0016-6995.