First Quaternary fossil record of a blind snake (Scolecophidia, Serpentes) from South America (Argentina)

ABSTRACT

We report and describe the first fossil of a blind snake (Scolecophidia, Serpentes) for Argentina. The fossil is a complete and isolated vertebra assigned to Epictia sp. (Leptotyphlopidae). Modern members of Leptotyphlopidae are common in South America, especially in Argentina. The fossil was recovered from the basal layer of an Early Holocene fluvial unit in Entre Ríos province, northeastern Argentina. In addition to its important contribution to the fossil record of South America, this scolecophidian specimen also represents one of the few fossils documented from the Southern Hemisphere. Furthermore, this study represents the first contribution to the knowledge of scolecophidian trunk vertebral morphology in Argentinian species.

KEYWORDS:

• Trunk Vertebra
• Leptotyphlopidae
• Herpetofauna
• Holocene
• Quaternary
• Entre Ríos

Acknowledgements

We are grateful to Santiago Brizuela, and Adriana Albino (Universidad Nacional de Mar del Plata - CONICET) for allowing us to study material under their care. To Agustín Scanferla (Fundación de Historia Natural Félix de Azara – Universidad Maimónides) for help in the specimen determination. To Dr. Ingrid Romero for her assistance in language revision. Special thanks to Jorge Noriega and Sebastián Monsalvo for their motivation and support especially to MJP. To Pamela Ibarra (Piedras Blancas, Entre Ríos) and Carla Bessa (Santa Fe), who collaborated with specimens used for comparison. To Oscar Pedersen for the photograph used in Figure 2 and field assistance. To Fernando F. Garberoglio and two anonymous reviewers than improved the manuscript. Also, to Sci-Hub.

Disclosure statement

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

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas (CONICET). Contributions to PIP-CONICET 3036, PICT-2020-03591.