Snakes from Griesbeckerzell (Langhian, Early Badenian), North Alpine Foreland Basin (Germany), with comments on the evolution of snake faunas in Central Europe during the Miocene Climatic Optimum

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Authors	IVANOV Martin BÖHME Madelaine
Year of publication	2011
Type	Article in Periodical
Magazine / Source	Geodiversitas
MU Faculty or unit	Faculty of Science
Citation
Field	Ecology
Keywords	Squamata;Boidae;Colubridae;Elapidae;Viperidae;Miocene Climatic Optimum;North Alpine Foreland Basin;palaeoclimate
Description	Two fossil-bearing levels at Griesbeckerzell (the central part of the North Alpine Foreland Basin; Early Badenian, Mittlere Serie of the Upper Freshwater Molasse) have produced a rich reptile fauna that includes a large number of snakes, i.e. Grisbeckerzell 1b (OSM E, 15.0 – 14.9 Ma): Boidae: Python sp.; Colubridae: "Coluber" cf. caspioides; Viperidae: Vipera sp. (‘Oriental vipers’ group) or Daboia sp.; Griesbeckerzell 1a (beginning of unit OSM F, 14.77 Ma): Boidae: Bavarioboa aff. hermi, cf. Bavarioboa sp., Python sp.; Colubridae: "Coluber" cf. caspioides, Coluber hungaricus, "Coluber" sp., Texasophis cf. meini, Natrix sp.; Elapidae: Micrurus cf. gallicus; Viperidae: Vipera sp. (‘Oriental vipers’ group), Vipera sp. (‘European vipers’ group; ‘Vipera aspis complex’). Palaeoclimatic analyses of the herpetofauna indicate for both Griesbeckerzell levels humid conditions of between 750 and 1,025 mm mean annual precipitation. Temperature estimates combined with palaeobotanical data indicate a warm, subtropical climate with mean annual temperatures of 18.6 to 20.8 deg. C, cold month temperatures with 12.6 to 13.3 deg. C, and warm month temperatures with 25.1 to 28.1 deg. C.
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