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Abstract
We here describe a new squamate fauna from the late Miocene (Messinian, MN 13) of Ano Metochi, northern Greece. The lizard fauna of Ano Metochi is here shown to be rather diverse, consisting of lacertids, anguids, and potential cordylids, while snakes are also abundant, consisting of scolecophidians, natricines and at least two different colubrines. If our identification is correct, the Ano Metochi cordylids are the first ones identified from Greece and they are also the youngest representatives of this group in Europe. A previously described scincoid from the adjacent locality of Maramena is here tentatively also referred to cordylids, strengthening a long term survival of this group until at least the latest Miocene. The scolecophidian from Ano Metochi cannot be attributed with certainty to either typhlopids or leptotyphlopids, which still inhabit the Mediterranean region. The find nevertheless adds further to the poor fossil record of these snakes. Comparison of the Ano Metochi herpetofauna with that of the adjacent locality of Maramena reveals similarities, but also striking differences among their squamate compositions.
Acknowledgements
We would like to acknowledge Wilma Wessels and Hans de Bruijn (University of Utrecht) and Borja Sanchiz (Museo Nacional de Ciencias Naturales, Madrid) for the loan of the specimens described in this paper. We also thank Walter Joyce (University of Fribourg), Dimitris Kostopoulos, George Koufos (Aristotle University of Thessaloniki) for their valuable comments that enhanced the quality of this manuscript. We also thank the Editor Gareth Dyke and Andrej Čerňansky and one Anonymous Reviewer for their Editorial and Reviewing process.