Early Pliocene fossil snakes (Squamata, Colubroidea) with various teeth from the fissure deposit in Queshan, Henan, China

ABSTRACT

Despite the world-widely documented snake fossils throughout the Cenozoic, snake fossils from China have not yet been frequently reported. Here we report a series of Early Pliocene snake fossils entombed with the mammalian fauna from Houxushan, Queshan, Henan, China. By the comprehensive osteological comparison between the fossils and many extant snakes, we describe three families (Colubridae, Natricidae, and Viperidae) and six genera (Cyclophiops, Elaphe, Gloydius, Lycodon, Protobothrops, and Rhabdophis) and summarised brief diagnoses of these genera. Those fossil snakes present at least three different dental types: solid teeth (regular teeth), tubular teeth, and blade-like teeth. Based on the mammalian faunas, the age of the fossil snakes can be inferred as the end of the Early Pliocene (late Gaozhaungian, equivalent to European MN15). The discovery of the snake fossils emphasises the necessity of further investigating the Cenozoic snake faunas in China and provides new insights into the Cenozoic biodiversity and climate. In contrast to the cold and dry climate inferred by earlier studies, a diverse number of Oriental species and anuran-preying snakes in the Queshan herpetofauna might reveal a warmer and more humid climate in this region during the Early Pliocene.

KEYWORDS:

• bladed-toothed snakes
• dentary
• maxilla
• osteology
• snake fossil. running title: Early Pliocene snakes from Queshan
• Henan

Acknowledgments

This work was funded by the National Natural Science Foundation of China: Maxillary morphology, diet, and character evolution of the Cenozoic colubrid snakes in China (中国新生代游蛇超科化石的上颌骨形态, 食性及特征演化研究, NSFC 42202014, Jingsong Shi), the Strategic Priority Research Program of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (XDB26000000, Yuan Wang), the Archaeological Excavations and Comprehensive Research Project on the Paleolithic Site of Renzidong Cave in Fanchang District (People’s Government of Fanchang District, Wuhu City, Anhui Province), Open project of State Key Laboratory of Palaeobiology and Stratigraphy: Study on the Cenozoic fossil snakes in China (223124, Jingsong Shi), and the Second Tibetan Plateau Scientific Expedition and Research Program (2019QZKK0705, Tao Deng and Xijun Ni).

We are grateful to Fei Liang for helping with the specimen identification, Yemao Hou and Pengfei Yin for helping with CT scanning and 3D reconstruction, Chao Qin for specimen collection, and Liping Dong, Haipeng Zhao, and Boyang Sun for their professional advice.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Correction Statement

This article has been corrected with minor changes. These changes do not impact the academic content of the article.