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''Palaeophis'' ('ancient snake') is an extinct genus of
These species varied broadly in size; ''Palaeophis casei'' is the smallest at 1.3 metres of length, while the largest species, ''Palaeophis colossaeus'', is estimated to have been long based on isolated vertebrae, making it one of the largest known snakes. However, most species of the genus were not as big.
marine
Marine is an adjective meaning of or pertaining to the sea or ocean.
Marine or marines may refer to:
Ocean
* Maritime (disambiguation)
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snake that is the type genus of the extinct snake family Palaeophiidae.
Described species within this genus lived in the Eocene epoch, with some unnamed or questionable records from Cenomanian
The Cenomanian is, in the ICS' geological timescale, the oldest or earliest age of the Late Cretaceous Epoch or the lowest stage of the Upper Cretaceous Series. An age is a unit of geochronology; it is a unit of time; the stage is a unit in the s ...
and Maastrichtian. Fossils of species within this genus have been found in England, France, Denmark, Morocco and Mali. Remains have also been found in North America, including Maryland and Virginia (from the early Eocene Nanjemoy Formation),Blake, S. F. "Note on a vertebra of Palaeophis from the Eocene of Maryland." Journal of the Washington Academy of Sciences 31.12 (1941): 501-503. GeorgiaParmley, Dennis, and Harold W. Reed. "Size and age class estimates of North American Eocene palaeopheid snakes." Georgia Journal of Science 61.4 (2003): 220. and Mississippi.Holman, J. Alan. "Palaeophis casei, new species, a tiny palaeophid snake from the early Eocene of Mississippi." Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology 2.2 (1982): 163-166.
Description
These species varied broadly in size; ''Palaeophis casei'' is the smallest at 1.3 metres of length, while the largest species, ''Palaeophis colossaeus'', is estimated to have been long based on isolated vertebrae, making it one of the largest known snakes. However, most species of the genus were not as big.
Biology
Species of ''Palaeophis'' were specialised aquatic animals, as their fossils occur primarily in marine strata, though at least some estuarine remains have also been found. Different species are thought to have occupied different ecological niches. Studies on ''Palaeophis'' vertebrae show a high degree of vascularisation, suggesting that it had a considerably faster metabolism and growth rate than modern snakes. This may suggest that palaeophiids, like other marine reptiles such as mosasaurs, might have developed towards endothermy.References
Eocene snakes Paleocene reptiles of Europe Paleogene reptiles of Africa Eocene reptiles of Europe Taxa named by Richard Owen Fossil taxa described in 1841 Fossils of Denmark Fur Formation {{snake-stub Fossils of Mali