A colubrid snake from the late Miocene of Kutch, Gujarat, India

Abstract

Fossil snakes are extremely rare in the Indian Neogene records. We report the first record of isolated precloacal vertebrae of a “colubrine” snake from a late Miocene site, Tapar section in Kutch, Gujarat (India). The present specimens differ from the earlier finding of a colubrid from a younger deposit of Labli Member, Utterbaini Formation of Upper Siwaliks (Jammu and Kashmir) by the absence of hyapophyses. The “colubrine” snakes of late Miocene (~11-10 Ma) perhaps lived in a relatively wetter environment compared to the present “colubrine” from Kutch.