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Snake fauna (Reptilia: Serpentes) from the Early/Middle Miocene of Sandelzhausen and Rothenstein 13 (Germany)

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Abstract

The Early/Middle Miocene (European Land Mammal Zone MN5) localities of Sandelzhausen and Rothenstein 13 in southern Germany have yielded remains of about 13 ophidian taxa: Eoanilius sp. (Aniliidae), Bavarioboa ultima (Boidae), “Coluber” sp., ?Telescopus sp., Natrix sp., cf. Natrix sp., cf. “Neonatrix” sp., unidentified “colubrines” and “natricines” (Colubridae), Naja sp., an unidentified elapid (Elapidae), Vipera sp. (“Oriental viper”), Vipera sp. (“aspis complex”) (Viperidae). Both faunas document a transitional phase from those reported from several late Early and Middle Miocene sites of Central and Western Europe. The climates of Sandelzhausen and Rothenstein 13, as indicated by ophidian fossils, were warm, although not tropical or subtropical.

Kurzfassung

Aus den unter-/mittelmiozänen (Europäische Landsäuger Zone MN5) Fossilfundstellen Sandelzhausen und Rothenstein 13 in Süddeutschland sind Reste von 13 Schlangentaxa überliefert: Eoanilius sp. (Aniliidae), Bavarioboa ultima (Boidae), “Coluber” sp., ?Telescopus sp., Natrix sp., cf. Natrix sp., cf. “Neonatrix” sp., nicht näher identifizierte “colubrine” und “natricine” Schlangen (Colubridae), Naja sp., ein nicht näher identifizierter Vertreter der Elapidae, Vipera sp. (“Orientalische Viper”), Vipera sp. (“aspis-Komplex”) (Viperidae). Beide Faunen repräsentieren ein Übergangsstadium zwischen Vergesellschaftungen anderer mittel- und westeuropäischer Fundstellen aus dem späten Unter- und Mittelmiozän. Die Schlangenfossilien zeigen für Sandelzhausen und Rothenstein13 ein warmes, aber nicht tropisches oder subtropisches Klima an.

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Acknowledgments

I am deeply grateful to Prof. Volker Fahlbusch and Dr. Gertrud Rössner for inviting me to participate in the Sandelzhausen project as well as for all courtesies received from them in Mainburg during the “Sandelzhausen Symposium 2005”. I thank Dr. Ronald Böttcher (Staatliches Museum für Naturkunde in Stuttgart) for the loan of the material from Rothenstein 13. Dr. Massimo Delfino (Florence) and Dr. Jean-Claude Rage (Paris) provided helpful comments on the manuscript. Dr. Dave Hone made linguistic corrections of the text.

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  1. Institute of Systematics and Evolution of Animals, Polish Academy of Sciences, Slawkowska 17, 31-016, Kraków, Poland

    Zbigniew Szyndlar

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Szyndlar, Z. Snake fauna (Reptilia: Serpentes) from the Early/Middle Miocene of Sandelzhausen and Rothenstein 13 (Germany). Paläontol Z 83, 55–66 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12542-009-0009-5

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