''Palaeopython'' is an extinct genus of

snake Snakes are elongated, Limbless vertebrate, limbless, carnivore, carnivorous reptiles of the suborder Serpentes . Like all other Squamata, squamates, snakes are ectothermic, amniote vertebrates covered in overlapping Scale (zoology), scales. Ma ...

from the

Eocene The Eocene ( ) Epoch is a geological epoch (geology), epoch that lasted from about 56 to 33.9 million years ago (mya). It is the second epoch of the Paleogene Period (geology), Period in the modern Cenozoic Era (geology), Era. The name ''Eocene' ...

of Europe. The genus has been used to refer to large Western and Central European snake vertebrae from the Eocene. ''P. cadurcensis'' (the

type species In zoological nomenclature, a type species (''species typica'') is the species name with which the name of a genus or subgenus is considered to be permanently taxonomically associated, i.e., the species that contains the biological type specimen ...

, originally named as a species of ''

Python Python may refer to: Snakes * Pythonidae, a family of nonvenomous snakes found in Africa, Asia, and Australia ** ''Python'' (genus), a genus of Pythonidae found in Africa and Asia * Python (mythology), a mythical serpent Computing * Python (pro ...

'' by

Henri Filhol Henri Filhol Henri Filhol (13 May 1843 – 28 April 1902) was a French medical doctor, malacologist and naturalist born in Toulouse. He was the son of Édouard Filhol (1814-1883), curator of the Muséum de Toulouse. After receiving his early e ...

in 1877) and the tentatively-referred ''"P." neglectus'' (named by Alphonse Trémeau de Rochebrune in 1884) originate from France; ''P. ceciliensis'' (named by Ben Barnes in 1927) originates from Germany; and ''P. helveticus'' (named by Georgios Georgalis & Torsten Scheyer in 2019) originates from Switzerland. A species known from multiple well-preserved specimens found in the Messel Pit of Germany, ''P. fischeri'', was named by Stephan Schaal in 2004, but examination of the genus showed that it represented a distinct lineage; it was renamed '' Eoconstrictor fischeri'' in 2020 by Agustín Scanferla and Krister T. Smith. Another species from France, ''P. filholii'' (named by Rochebrune in 1880), was moved to the genus '' Phosphoroboa'' in 2021 by Georgalis, Márton Rabi, and Smith. An additional species, ''P. sardus'', was described in 1901 by Alessandro Portis from the Middle Miocene of Monte Albu (Sardinia, Italy). However, a reevaluation of the holotype specimen of this species revealed it to actually belong to an indeterminate

acanthomorph Acanthomorpha (meaning "thorn-shaped") is an extraordinarily diverse taxon of teleost fishes with spiny rays. The clade contains about one third of the world's modern species of vertebrates: over 14,000 species. A key anatomical innovation in ...

fish.

References

External links

Boidae Eocene snakes Paleogene France Fossils of France Quercy Phosphorites Formation Paleogene Germany Fossils of Germany Paleogene Switzerland Fossils of Switzerland Fossil taxa described in 1880 {{paleo-reptile-stub