Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-mkpzs Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-27T14:01:17.404Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

New material of Ophisaurus, Anguis and Pseudopus (Squamata, Anguidae, Anguinae) from the Miocene of the Czech Republic and Germany and systematic revision and palaeobiogeography of the Cenozoic Anguinae

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  13 September 2016

JOZEF KLEMBARA  and
MICHAEL RUMMEL
JOZEF KLEMBARA*
Affiliation:
Department of Ecology, Faculty of Natural Sciences, Comenius University in Bratislava, Mlynská dolina, Ilkovičova 6, 842 15 Bratislava, Slovakia
MICHAEL RUMMEL
Affiliation:
Naturmuseum Augsburg, Im Thäle 3, 86152 Augsburg, Germany
*
†Author for correspondence: klembara@fns.uniba.sk
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Four species of Ophisaurus, O. fejfari, O. spinari, O. robustus and O. holeci, are recognized on the basis of parietals from the Early Miocene of the Czech Republic and Germany. The fifth species, O. acuminatus, is described from the Late Miocene of Germany, but its parietal is not preserved. This paper describes new O. fejfari, O. spinari, O. robustus and O. holeci specimens from the Early and Middle Miocene of the Czech Republic and Germany. The O. fejfari and O. holeci parietals from Germany are the first records of these species outside the Czech Republic. This paper provides a significant contribution to the understanding of both interspecific and intraspecific Ophisaurus variability in the Cenozoic of Europe. A well-preserved parietal of Anguis rarus sp. nov. is described from the Early Miocene of Germany. This is the first record of the parietal of Anguis in the Cenozoic. A new parietal from the Middle Miocene of Germany is described as Pseudopus sp. It differs from the contemporaneous P. laurillardi only in the absence of the large and distinctly laterally projecting anterolateral processes of the parietal. In the Miocene, Ophisaurus and Pseudopus exhibit a higher diversity than that of the preceding geological periods of the Cenozoic. Besides, Ophisaurus emigrates from Europe to (1) Asia and via the Bering Strait to North America, and (2) North Africa during the Oligocene and Miocene. By contrast, Anguis and Pseudopus are limited to Eurasia. The palaeobiogeography of members of Anguinae is discussed.

Keywords

AnguimorphaCentral EuropeTertiaryskulltaxonomy
Type
Original Articles
Information
Geological Magazine , Volume 155 , Issue 1 , January 2018 , pp. 20 - 44
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2016 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Abdul-Aziz, H., Böhme, M., Rocholl, A., Zwing, A., Prieto, J., Wijbrans, J., Heissig, K. & Bachtadse, V. 2008. Integrated stratigraphy of the Early to Middle Miocene Upper Freshwater Molasse in Lower Bavaria (Germany, Bavaria). International Journal of Earth Sciences 97, 115–34.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Augé, M. 1986. Les Lacertiliens (Reptilia, Squamata) de l'Eocène supérieur et de l'Oligocène ouest européen. Ph.D. thesis. Université Pierre et Marie Curie, Paris. Published thesis.Google Scholar
Augé, M. 1990. La faune de lézards et d'amphisbaenes de l'Eocène inférieur de Condé-en-Brie (France). Bulletin du Muséum national d'Histoire naturelle 12, 111–41.Google Scholar
Augé, M. 1992. Une espèce nouvelle d’Ophisaurus (Lacertilia, Anguidae) de l'Oligocène des phosphorites du Quercy. Révision de la sous-famille des Anguinae. Paläontologische Zeitschrift 66, 159–75.Google Scholar
Augé, M. 2005. Évolution des lézards du Paléogène en Europe. Mémoires du Muséum national d'Histoire naturelle 192, 1–369.Google Scholar
Augé, M., Duffaud, S., Broin, F. de, Rage, J.-C. & Vasse, D. 1997. Les amphibiens et les reptiles de Prémontré (Cuisien, Basin parisien): une herpétofaune de référence pour l‘Eocène inférieur. Géologie de la France 1, 23–33.Google Scholar
Augé, M. & Rage, J.-C. 2000. Les squamates (Reptilia) du Miocène moyen de Sansan. In La faune miocène de Sansan et son environnment (ed. L. Ginsburg). Mémoires du Muséum national d'Histoire naturelle 183, 263–313.Google Scholar
Augé, M. & Smith, R. 2009. An assemblage of early Oligocene lizards (Squamata) from the locality of Boutersem (Belgium), with comments on the Eocene–Oligocene transition. Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society 153, 148–70.Google Scholar
Bachmayer, F. & Mlynarski, M. 1977. Bemerkungen über die fossilen Ophisaurus-Reste (Reptilia, Anguinae) von Österreich und Polen. Sitzungsberichte der Österreichischen Akademie der Wissenschaften, Mathematisch-naturwissenschaftliche KIasse, Abteilung 1, 186, 285–99.Google Scholar
Bailon, S. & Augé, M. 2012. Un nouveau genre, Ragesaurus (Squamata, Anguidae, Anguinae), du Pléistocène inférieur des îles Medas (Catalogne, Espagne). Bulletin de la Société Géologique de France 183, 683–8.Google Scholar
Bailon, S. & Blain, H. A. 2007. Faunes de reptiles et changements climatiques en Europe Occidentale autour de la limite Plio-Pléistocène. Quaternaire 18, 55–63.Google Scholar
Blain, H. A., Agustí, J., López-Garcia, J. M., Haddoumi, H., Aouraghe, H., Hammouti, K. E., Pérez-Gonzáles, A., Chacón, M. G. & Sala, R. 2013. Amphibians and squamate reptiles from the Late Miocene (Vallesian) of Eastern Morocco (Guefait-1, Jerada Province). Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology 33, 804–16.Google Scholar
Boettger, O. 1875. Über die Gliederung der Cyrenenmergel-Gruppe im Mainzer Becken. Bericht über die Senckenbergische Naturforschende Gesellschaft 1873–1874, 50–102.Google Scholar
Böhme, M. 1999. Die miozäne Fossil-Lagerstätte Sandelzhausen. 16. Fisch- und Herpetofauna – Erste Ergebnisse. Neues Jahrbuch für Paläontologie und Geologie, Abhandlungen 214, 487–95.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Böhme, M. 2002. Lower Vertebrates (Teleostei, Amphibia, Sauria) from the Karpatian of the Korneuburg Basin – palaeoecological, environmental and palaeoclimatical implications. Beiträge zur Paläontologie 27, 339–54.Google Scholar
Böhme, M. 2008. Ectothermic vertebrates (Teleostei, Allocaudata, Urodela, Anura, Testudines, Choristodera, Crocodylia, Squamata) from the Late Oligocene of Oberleichtersbach (Northern Bavaria, Germany). Courier Forschungs-Institut Senckenberg 260, 161–83.Google Scholar
Böhme, M. & Vasilyan, D. 2014. Ectotermic vertebrates from the late Middle Miocene of Gratkorn (Austria, Styria). Palaeobiodiversity and Palaeoenvironments 94, 21–40.Google Scholar
Bolet, A., Delfino, M., Fortuny, J., Almécija, S. & Alba, D. M. 2013. A partial skull of Ophisaurus (Squamata, Anguidae) from the Miocene of Catalonia (Ne Iberian Peninsula). Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology, Program and Abstracts, 2013, 90A.Google Scholar
Bolet, A. & Evans, S. E. 2013. Lizards and amphisbaenians (Reptilia, Squamata) from the late Eocene of Sossís (Catalonia, Spain). Palaeontologia Electronica 16, 1–23.Google Scholar
Bolkay, S. J. 1913. Additions to the fossil herpetology of Hungary from the Pannonian and Preglacial period. Mitteilungen aus den Jahrbüchern der königlichen ungarischen geologischen Reichsanstalt 21, 217–30.Google Scholar
Brunner, G. 1954. Das Fuchsloch bei Siegmannsbrunn (Oberfr.) (Eine mediterrane Riss-Wiirm-Fauna). Neues Jahrbuch für Geologie und Palaontologie 100, 83–118.Google Scholar
Brunner, G. 1957. Die Breitenberghöhle bei Gössweinstein/Ofr. Eine Mindel-Riss – und eine postglaziale Mediterran-Fauna. Neues Jahrbuch für Geologie und Paläontologie. Monatshefte 7–9, 352–78, 385–403.Google Scholar
Čerňanský, A., Klembara, J. & Müller, J. 2016. The new rare record of the late Oligocene lizards and amphisbaenians from Germany and its impact on our knowledge of the European terminal Palaeogene. Palaeobiodiversity and Palaeoenvironments. doi: 10.1007/s12549-015-0226-8.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Čerňanský, A., Rage, J.-C. & Klembara, J. 2015. The Early Miocene squamates of Amöneburg (Germany): the first stages of modern squamates in Europe. Journal of Systematic Palaeontology 13, 97–128.Google Scholar
Conrad, J. L. 2004. Skull, mandible, and hyoid of Shinisaurus crocodilurus Ahl (Squamata, Anguimorpha). Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society 141, 399–434.Google Scholar
Conrad, J. L. 2008. Phylogeny and systematics of Squamata (Reptilia) based on morphology. Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History 310, 1–182.Google Scholar
Conrad, J. L., Ast, J. C., Montanari, S. & Norell, M. A. 2011. A combined evidence phylogenetic analysis of Anguimorpha (Reptilia, Squamata). Cladistics 27, 230–77.Google Scholar
Crusafont Pairó, M. & Villalta, J. F. de. 1952. Sobre los pequeños reptiles y anfi bios del Mioceno del Vallés-Penedés. Estudios Geológicos 16, 213–21.Google Scholar
Daudin, F.-M. 1803. Histoire Naturelle des Reptiles. Paris: Deterville, 8 vols.Google Scholar
Delfino, M. & Bailon, S. 2000. Early Pleistocene herpetofauna from Cava dell'Erba and Cava Pirro (Apulia, southern Italy). Herpetolological Journal 10, 95–110.Google Scholar
Delfino, M., Bailon, S. & Pitruzzella, G. 2011. The Late Pliocene amphibians and reptiles from “Capo Mannu D1 Local Fauna” (Mandriola, Sardinia, Italy). Geodiversitas 33, 357–82.Google Scholar
Estes, R. 1983. Sauria Terrestria, Amphisbaenia. In Handbuch der Paläoherpetologie, Part 10A (ed. Wellenhofer, P.), 245 pp. Stuttgart and New York: Gustav Fischer Verlag.Google Scholar
Evans, S. E. 2008. The skull of lizards and tuatara. In Biology of the Reptilia 20. Morphology H: The Skull of Lepidosauria (eds Gans, C., Gaunt, A. S. & Adler, K.), 347 pp. Ithaca, NY: Society for the Study of Amphibians and Reptiles.Google Scholar
Fejérváry-Lángh, A. M. 1923. Beiträge zu einer Monographie der fossilen Ophisaurier. Palaeontologia Hungarica 1, 123–20.Google Scholar
Fejfar, O. & Kvaček, Z. 1993. Excursion Nr. 3, Tertiary Basins in Northwest Bohemia. Prague: Charles University, Czech Geological Society, 35 pp.Google Scholar
Fürbringer, M. 1900. Zur vergleichenden Anatomie des Brustschulterapparatus und der Schultermuskeln. Janaische Zeitschrift für Naturwissenschaft 34, 215–718.Google Scholar
Gray, J. E. 1825. A synopsis of the genera of reptiles and amphibia, with a description of some new species. Annals of Philosophy, London 10, 193–217.Google Scholar
Gray, J. E. 1853. Descriptions of some undescribed species of reptiles collected by Dr. Joseph Hooker in the Khassia Mountains, East Bengal, and Sikkim Himalaya. Annals and Magazine of Natural History 12, 386–92.Google Scholar
Günther, A. 1873. Description of a new Saurian (Hyalosaurus) allied to Pseudopus . Annals and Magazine of Natural History 11, 351.Google Scholar
Gvoždík, V., Jandzík, D., Lymberakis, P., Jablonski, D. & Moravec, J. 2010. Slow worm, Anguis fragilis (Reptilia: Anguidae) as a species complex: genetic structure reveals deep divergences. Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 55, 460–72.Google Scholar
Hír, J., Kókay, J., Venczel, M., Gál, E. & Kessler, E. 2001. Elõzetes beszámoló a felsõtárkányi „Güdör-kert” n. õslénytani lelõhelykomplex újravizsgálatáról. Folia Historico naturalia Musei Matrensis 25, 41–64.Google Scholar
Holman, A. J. 1970. Herpetofauna of the Wood Mountain Formation (Upper Miocene) Saskatchewan. Canadian Journal of Earth Sciences 7, 1317–25.Google Scholar
Hou, Z., Sket, B., Fišer, C. & Li, S. 2011. Eocene habitat shift from saline to freshwater promoted Tethyan amphipod diversification. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 108, 14,533–8.Google Scholar
Jörg, E. 1965. Ophisaurus acuminatus nov. spec. (Anguidae, Rept.) von der pontischen Wirbeltier-Fundstätte Höwenegg Hegau. Beiträge zur naturkundlichen Forschungen in SW-Deutschland 24, 21–30.Google Scholar
Klembara, J. 1979. Neue Funde der Gattungen Ophisaurus und Anguis (Squamata, Reptilia) aus dem Untermiozän Westböhmens (ČSSR). Věstník Ústředního ústavu geologického 54, 163–9.Google Scholar
Klembara, J. 1981. Beitrag zur Kenntniss der Subfamilie Anguinae. Acta Universitatis Carolinae – Geologica 2, 121–68.Google Scholar
Klembara, J. 1986 a. New finds of the genus Ophisaurus (Reptilia, Anguidae) from the Miocene of Western Slovakia (Czechoslovakia). Acta Universitatis Carolinae – Geologica. Špinar 2, 187–203.Google Scholar
Klembara, J. 1986 b. Neue Funde der Gattungen Pseudopus und Anguis (Reptilia, Anguinae) aus drei Pliopleistozänen Lokalitäten. Geologický zborník – Geologica Carpathica 37, 91–106.Google Scholar
Klembara, J. 2012. A new species of Pseudopus (Squamata, Anguidae) from the early Miocene of North-West Bohemia (Czech Republic). Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology 32, 854–66.Google Scholar
Klembara, J. 2015. New finds of anguines (Squamata, Anguidae) from the Early Miocene of North-West Bohemia (Czech Republic). Paläontologische Zeitschrift 89, 171–95.Google Scholar
Klembara, J., Böhme, M. & Rummel, M. 2010. Revision of the anguine lizard Pseudopus laurillardi (Squamata, Anguidae) from the Miocene of Europe, with comments on paleoecology. Journal of Paleontology 84, 159–96.Google Scholar
Klembara, J. & Green, B. 2010. Anguimorph lizards (Squamata, Anguimorpha) from the Middle and Upper Eocene of the Hampshire Basin of Southern England. Journal of Systematic Palaeontology 8, 97–129.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Klembara, J., Hain, M. & Dobiašová, K. 2014. Comparative anatomy of the lower jaw and dentition of Pseudopus apodus and the interrelationships of species of subfamily Anguinae (Anguimorpha, Anguidae). The Anatomical Record 297, 516–44.Google Scholar
Kormos, T. 1911. Der pliozäne Knochenfund bei Polgárdi. Földtani Közlöni 41, 1–19.Google Scholar
Kuhn, O. 1940. Die Plakosauriden und Anguiden aus dem mittleren Eozän des Geiseltales. Nova Acta Leopoldina (n.f.) 8, 461–86.Google Scholar
Lartet, E. 1851. Notice sur la colline de Sansan. Annuaire du département du Gers, Auch, 45 pp.Google Scholar
Linnæus, C. von 1758. Systema naturæ per regna tria naturæ, secundum classes, ordines, genera, species, cum characteribus, differentiis, synonymis, locis, (10th ed.) Vol 1, pp. 1–824. Stockholm: Laurentius Salvius.Google Scholar
Macey, J. R., Shulte II, J. A., Larson, A., Tuniyev, B. S., Orlov, N. & Papenfuss, T. J. 1999. Molecular phylogenetics, tRNA evolution, and historical biogeography in anguid lizards and related taxonomic families. Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 12, 250–72.Google Scholar
Meszoely, C. & Haubold, H. 1975. The status of the Middle Eocene Geiseltal limbless anguid lizard. Copeia 1975, 36–43.Google Scholar
Młynarski, M. 1962. Notes on the amphibian and reptilian fauna of the Polish Pliocene and Early Pleistocene. Acta Zoologica Cracoviensia 7, 177–94.Google Scholar
Murelaga, X., Suberbiola, X. P., Broin, F. de, Rage, J.-C., Duffaud, S., Astibia, H. & Badiola, A. 2002. Amphibians and reptiles from the Early Miocene of the Bardenas Reales of Navarre (Ebro Basin, Iberian Peninsula). Geobios 35, 347–65.Google Scholar
Oelrich, T. M. 1956. The anatomy of the head of Ctenosaura pectinata (Iguanidae). Miscellaneous Publications, Museum of Zoology, University of Michigan 94, 1–122.Google Scholar
Oppel, M. 1811. Die Ordnungen, Familien und Gattungen der Reptilien als Prodrom einer Naturgeschichte derselben. München: Joseph Lindauer.Google Scholar
Rage, J.-C. 2006. The lower vertebrates from the Eocene and Oligocene of the phosphorites du Quercy (France): an overview. Strata. Série 1 23, 161–73.Google Scholar
Rage, J.-C. & Augé, M. 1993. Squamates from the Cainozoic of the western part of the Europe. A review. Revue de Paléobiologie spec. 7, 199–216.Google Scholar
Rage, J.-C. & Augé, M. 2010. Squamate reptiles from the middle Eocène of Lissieu (France). A landmark in the middle Eocène of Europe. Geobios 43, 253–68.Google Scholar
Rage, J.-C. & Augé, M. 2015. Valbro: a new site of vertebrates from the early Oligocene (MP 22) of France (Quercy). III – Amphibians and squamates. Annales de Paléontologie 101, 29–41.Google Scholar
Rage, J.-C. & Bailon, S. 2005. Amphibians and squamate reptiles from the late early Miocene (MN 4) of Béon 1 (Montréal-du-Gers, southwestern France). Geodiversitas 27, 413–41.Google Scholar
Rage, J.-C. & Sen, S. 1976. Les amphibiens et les reptiles du Pliocène supérieur de Çalta (Turquie). Géologie méditerranéenne 1, 127–34.Google Scholar
Rauscher, K. L. 1992. Die Echsen (Lacertilia, Reptilia) aus dem Plio-Pleistozän von Bad Deutsch-Altenburg, Niederösterreich. Beiträge zur Paläontologie 17, 81–177.Google Scholar
Roček, Z. 1984. Lizards (Reptilia: Sauria) from the Lower Miocene locality Dolnice (Bohemia, Czechoslovakia). Rozpravy Československé Akademie věd; řada matematických a přírodních věd 94, 1–69.Google Scholar
Rögl, F. 1998. Paleogeographic considerations for Mediterranean and Paratethys seaways (Oligocene to Miocene). Annalen des Naturhistorischen Museums in Wien 99A, 279–310.Google Scholar
Sullivan, R. M., Keller, T. & Habersetzer, J. 1999. Middle Eocene (Geiseltalian) anguid lizards from Geiseltal and Messel, Germany. I. Ophisauriscus quadrupes Kuhn, 1940. Courier Forschungsinstitut Senckenberg 216, 97–129.Google Scholar
Tempfer, P. M. 2004. The herpetofauna (Amphibia: Caudata, Anura; Reptilia: Scleroglossa) of the Upper Miocene locality Kohfidish, Burgerland, Austria. Ph.D. thesis, University of Vienna, Vienna. Published thesis.Google Scholar
Tempfer, P. M. 2009. The early Vallesian vertebrates of Atzelsdorf (Late Miocene, Austria). 3. Squamata, Scleroglossa. Annalen des Naturhistorisches Museums in Wien 111 A, 489–98.Google Scholar
Troschel, F. H. 1860. Neue Reptilien aus der Braunkohle von Rott im Siebengebircje. Neues Jahrbuch für Mineralogie, Geognosie, Geologie u. Petrefactenkunde 1860, 500.Google Scholar
Vasilyan, D., Böhme, M. & Klembara, J. 2016. First record of fossil Ophisaurus (Anguimorpha, Anguidae, Anguinae) in Asia. Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology. doi: 10.1080/02724634.2016.1219739.Google Scholar
Venczel, M. 2006. Lizards from the Late Miocene of Polgárdi. Nymphaea, Folia naturae Bihariae 33, 25–38.Google Scholar
Venczel, M. 2007. Late Middle Miocene amphibians and reptiles from Subpiatră (Bihor district, Romania). Nymphaea, Folia naturae Bihariae 34, 39–66.Google Scholar
Venczel, M. & Hír, J. 2013. Amphibians and squamates from the Miocene of Felsőtárkány Basin, N-Hungary. Palaeontographica A 300, 117–58.Google Scholar
Venczel, M. & Hír, J. 2015. Lissamphibians and squamate reptiles from the early middle Miocene of Litke, Northern Hungary. Geobios 48, 491–504.CrossRefGoogle Scholar