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Unid. Snake Fossil . . . Help!


Harry Pristis

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Anyone here recognize this snake vertebra? . . . Family would do. I am stumped.

This one does not fit Auffenberg's key in his 1963 paper on the fossil snakes of Florida. In the first place, this was a very large snake which doesn't seem to fit into the known Boinae of that paper (or of the state of knowledge in 2001). I suppose this could turn out to be a caudal vertebra of one of the known snakes, say Pseudoepicrates stanolseni . . . anyone know about caudal vertebrae?

The snake vertebra is from a site that is distinctly older (Early Hemingfordian) than Thomas Farm (Middle Hemingfordian), so anything is possible.

Any help would be appreciated.

post-42-0-49743100-1363733865_thumb.jpg

http://pristis.wix.com/the-demijohn-page

 

What seest thou else

In the dark backward and abysm of time?

---Shakespeare, The Tempest

 

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I guess you'll have to wait until the definitive study of the snakes from that site is completed and published.

Edited by RichW9090

The plural of "anecdote" is not "evidence".

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Well, one never knows when an appropriate expert will join the Forum. Plus, there is always Google.

Only a week ago, just such an expert contacted me about something I posted on the Forum five years ago. He found my image using a Google search. Turns out my fossil may be "a first known."

So, I'm content to wait for a snake expert.

http://pristis.wix.com/the-demijohn-page

 

What seest thou else

In the dark backward and abysm of time?

---Shakespeare, The Tempest

 

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Given the number of non-members visiting the Forum, posting a 'forlorn hope' may well pay off.

If anyone knows a snake expert, please pass this request on!

"There has been an alarming increase in the number of things I know nothing about." - Ashleigh Ellwood Brilliant

“Try to learn something about everything and everything about something.” - Thomas Henry Huxley

>Paleontology is an evolving science.

>May your wonders never cease!

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Well, one never knows when an appropriate expert will join the Forum. Plus, there is always Google.

Only a week ago, just such an expert contacted me about something I posted on the Forum five years ago. He found my image using a Google search. Turns out my fossil may be "a first known."

So, I'm content to wait for a snake expert.

you could try Jason Head

http://eas.unl.edu/people/faculty_page.php?lastname=Head&firstname=Jason&type=REG

"A man who stares at a rock must have a lot on his mind... or nothing at all'

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The squamates from that site are already being looked at. Contact me by message and I will be glad to refer you to that person.

The plural of "anecdote" is not "evidence".

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