Bavarioboa sp. (Serpentes, Boidae) from the Oligocene / Miocene of eastern Turkey with comments on connections between European and Asiatic snake faunas

Data Revues 16310683 00070006 08000675, 2008

Comptes Rendus Palevol, 2008

Togay, a locality from Ol’khon Island, Baykal Lake, Russia, has yielded a fauna of snakes of Late Middle or early Late Miocene age. It is located in a broad area from which no Neogene snake has been reported; therefore, it represents an important landmark. The fauna includes a non-erycine boid, two or three colubrids, a viperid of the ‘oriental complex’ of Vipera, and perhaps another viperid. This assemblage is astonishingly reminiscent of the snake faunas from the late Early and early Middle Miocene from western and central Europe, it being understood that Miocene faunas are practically unknown in the geographically intermediary area. It may be entertained whether a homogenous snake fauna inhabited Eurasia (except the southern part of the continent) during the Miocene.La faune de serpents eurasiatique était-elle largement homogène au Miocène ? Togay, gisement de l’île d’Ol’khon (lac Baïkal, Russie), a produit des serpents du Miocène moyen tardif ou supérieur précoce. Il se situe au sein d’une très vaste zone qui n’avait pas fourni de serpents néogènes ; il s’agit donc d’un repère important. La faune comprend un Boidae non Erycinae, deux ou trois Colubridae, un Viperidae du groupe des ‘vipères orientales’ et, peut-être, un autre Viperidae. De façon étonnante, cette faune rappelle celles du Miocène inférieur tardif et moyen précoce d’Europe occidentale et centrale, étant entendu que les faunes miocènes sont pratiquement inconnues dans la zone géographiquement intermédiaire. Ce gisement suggère donc qu’une faune peut-être homogène occupait l’Eurasie, sauf sa partie méridionale, pendant le Miocène.

geo-paleontologica.org

2002

The Early Miocene Merkur−North locality (MN 3a) represents the oldest known Miocene ophidian locality in Europe east of Germany. The snake assemblage is characterised by high species diversity and includes the following families: Boidae (Bavarioboa sp.), Colubridae (Coluber dolnicensis, Coluber suevicus, Coluber caspioides, cf. Elaphe sp., Natrix merkurensis sp. nov., Natrix sansaniensis), Elapidae (Elapidae gen. et sp. indet.), and Viperidae (Vipera sp.—“Vipera aspis” complex). Fossils of the extinct species, Coluber dolnicensis, Coluber suevicus, and Natrix sansaniensis, represent their earliest known occurrences. The cranial elements of C. suevicus and N. sansaniensis are described for the first time. Discoveries of cf. Elaphe sp. may represent the earliest fossil member of the genus Elaphe. Elapidae gen. et sp. indet. probably represents the oldest known member of the cobras.

Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology, 2020

We describe new fossil bovid craniodental remains from the Upper Miocene fossil site of Şerefköy-2, Yatağan Basin, SW Turkey. The new material belongs to six species: Gazella cf. G. capricornis, Palaeoryx pallasi, Sporadotragus parvidens, Skoufotragus cf. Sk. schlosseri, Urmiatherium rugosifrons, and ?Sinotragus sp., which together indicate a latest middle–early Late Turolian (Late Miocene) age. Medium-to-large bovid taxa prevail over small ones, and protoryxoid bovids clearly dominate the assemblage. An analysis of the taxonomic structure, size and diet spectra of several Turolian bovid assemblages from Greece and Turkey reveals Şerefköy-2 to be a member of a mammalian palaeocommunity particular to southwestern Anatolia, which in turn forms part of the sub-Paratethyan biogeographic province.

Geodiversitas, 2011

Geodiversitas, 2005

1994

Historical Biology, 2018