''Boipeba'' is an

extinct Extinction is the termination of a kind of organism or of a group of kinds (taxon), usually a species. The moment of extinction is generally considered to be the death of the last individual of the species, although the capacity to breed and ...

genus of

blind snake The Scolecophidia, commonly known as blind snakes or thread snakes, are an infraorder of snakes. They range in length from . All are fossorial (adapted for burrowing). Five families and 39 genera are recognized. The Scolecophidia infraorder is mos ...

from the Late Cretaceous (post- Turonian) of Brazil. It contains a single species, ''Boipeba tayasuensis''. The species is known from a single precloacal vertebra from the

Adamantina Formation The Adamantina Formation is a geological formation in the Bauru Basin of western São Paulo state, in southeastern Brazil. Its strata date back to the Late Cretaceous epoch of the Cretaceous Period, during the Mesozoic Era. The formation is p ...

of northwestern São Paulo.

Etymology

The genus name, ''Boipeba'', is Tupi-Guarani for "flat snake". The specific epithet ''tayasuensis'' refers to the species' discovery in Taiaçu municipality.

Taxonomy

''Boipeba'' was a scolecophidian, belonging to the same group that contains modern blind snakes. Phylogenetic analyses indicate a deep ( Late Jurassic or

Early Cretaceous The Early Cretaceous ( geochronological name) or the Lower Cretaceous (chronostratigraphic name), is the earlier or lower of the two major divisions of the Cretaceous. It is usually considered to stretch from 145 Ma to 100.5 Ma. Geology Pro ...

) divergence between blind snakes and all other extant snakes, but until ''Boipeba'''s discovery, there was no known fossil evidence of blind snakes during the Mesozoic. ''Boipeba'' is thought to be the sister group to the

Typhlopoidea The Scolecophidia, commonly known as blind snakes or thread snakes, are an infraorder of snakes. They range in length from . All are fossorial (adapted for burrowing). Five families and 39 genera are recognized. The Scolecophidia infraorder is mos ...

, being more derived than Anomalepididae and Leptotyphlopidae, but

basal Basal or basilar is a term meaning ''base'', ''bottom'', or ''minimum''. Science * Basal (anatomy), an anatomical term of location for features associated with the base of an organism or structure * Basal (medicine), a minimal level that is nec ...

to all other blind snake families. The discovery of ''Boipeba'' in Brazil supports the idea that the Typhlopoidea may have originated in

Gondwana Gondwana () was a large landmass, often referred to as a supercontinent, that formed during the late Neoproterozoic (about 550 million years ago) and began to break up during the Jurassic period (about 180 million years ago). The final stages ...

Description

One of ''Boipeba'''s distinguishing features is its large size compared to modern blind snakes; only the extant '' Afrotyphlops schlegelii'' and '' Afrotyphlops mucruso'' of Africa rival it in size (about 1 meter in length). This indicates that early blind snakes may have been large in size, and only later underwent miniaturization.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q113739440

† A dagger, obelisk, or obelus is a typographical mark that usually indicates a footnote if an asterisk has already been used. The symbol is also used to indicate death (of people) or extinction (of species). It is one of the modern descendan ...

Late Cretaceous animals of South America Cretaceous snakes Fossils of Brazil Adamantina Formation Fossil taxa described in 2020