A unique snake assemblage from the Early Miocene locality of
Wintershof-West, Germany, with comments on the transitional
period in the evolution of European snake fauna

J 2025

A unique snake assemblage from the Early Miocene locality of Wintershof-West, Germany, with comments on the transitional period in the evolution of European snake fauna

IVANOV, Martin; Václav PACLÍK; Ángel HERNÁNDEZ LUJÁN a Madelaine BÖHME

Základní údaje

Originální název

A unique snake assemblage from the Early Miocene locality of Wintershof-West, Germany, with comments on the transitional period in the evolution of European snake fauna

Autoři

IVANOV, Martin; Václav PACLÍK; Ángel HERNÁNDEZ LUJÁN a Madelaine BÖHME

Vydání

Swiss Journal of Palaeontology, SPRINGER HEIDELBERG, 2025, 1664-2376

Další údaje

Jazyk

angličtina

Typ výsledku

Článek v odborném periodiku

Obor

10500 1.5. Earth and related environmental sciences

Stát vydavatele

Švýcarsko

Utajení

není předmětem státního či obchodního tajemství

Odkazy

URL

Impakt faktor

Impact factor: 2.200 v roce 2024

Označené pro přenos do RIV

Ano

Kód RIV

RIV/00216224:14310/25:00142437

Organizační jednotka

Přírodovědecká fakulta

Klíčová slova anglicky

Booidea; Colubriformes; Climatic evolution; Burdigalian; Palaeobiogeography; Bavaria

Štítky

14315010, rivok

Příznaky

Mezinárodní význam, Recenzováno

Změněno: 21. 1. 2026 15:33, Mgr. Marie Novosadová Šípková, DiS.

Anotace

V originále

The early Burdigalian (20.4–18.2 Ma) ophidian localities are rare in the European fossil record and with exception of Merkur-North (Ahníkov I), Czechia (early MN 3) our knowledge on the evolution of snake communities before the Early Ottnangian Cooling (EOC; 18.1–17.8 Ma) event are still strongly restricted. Here we present the unusually diversified snake community from the German Early Miocene (early Burdigalian, early MN 3) Wintershof-West locality based on the detailed comparative osteological studies with a special focus on the intracolumnar variability. The following snake taxa have been reported from Wintershof-West: Alethinophidia incertae sedis (cf. Falseryx sp.), Booidea (Bavarioboa wintershofensis sp. nov., Booidea indet.), Viperidae (Viperinae indet. – ‘Oriental vipers’, Vipera sp. [‘V. aspis’ complex]), Elapidae (‘Micrurus’ gallicus, Elapidae indet., type 1), Natricidae (Natrix cf. sansaniensis, Wintershofia robusta gen. et sp. nov., Palaeonatrix aff. lehmani, Natricidae indet., type 1, Natricidae indet.), ‘Colubridae’ (‘Coluber’ aff. caspioides, ‘Colubridae’ indet., type 1, 2, and 3, ‘Colubridae’ indet.), and Colubroidea indet. The snake community from Wintershof-West documents the first return of the genus Bavarioboa (B. wintershofensis sp. nov.) into Europe after its temporal demise from European region during the latest Oligocene climatic deterioration. Colubriform snakes became diversified in Central Europe during the onset of the early Burdigalian ~20 Mya. Viperid snakes from Wintershof-West comprise the earliest known distinct appearance of ‘Oriental vipers’. Several other colubriform taxa display their first documented appearance including Palaeonatrix aff. lehmani and ‘Coluber’ aff. caspioides which might represent the evolutionary older members of the ‘C.’ caspioides and P. lehmani lineages. The unusual diversification of snake taxa resulted from the onset of the warm early Burdigalian climate, which we refer here as the Eggenburgian Climatic Optimum (ECO). The presence of several thermophilic taxa in Wintershof-West including cf. Falseryx sp., Bavarioboa wintershofensis sp. nov., ‘Micrurus’ gallicus and another indeterminate coral snake, and ‘Oriental vipers’, point to a relatively major warming before the onset of the EOC event. However, the absence of highly thermophilic true cobras of the genus Naja as well as Pythonoidea in Central European MN 3 localities demonstrates mean annual temperatures did not reach their maximum, as during the Miocene Thermal Maximum (MTM, MN 4) of the middle and late Ottnangian. The karstic environment around the Wintershof-West locality corresponds to the semi-arid hydroclimate which fits with the numerous small booidea and ‘Oriental vipers’. Wintershof-West is the best documented early Burdigalian (early MN 3, Eggenburgian) ophidian locality in Europe which substantially increases our knowledge of the evolution of European snake fauna during its transitional period of the early Burdigalian.

Návaznosti

MUNI/A/1576/2024, interní kód MU

Název: Geologické procesy a jejich depoziční záznam

Investor: Masarykova univerzita, Geologické procesy a jejich depoziční záznam

Citovat

IVANOV, Martin; Václav PACLÍK; Ángel HERNÁNDEZ LUJÁN a Madelaine BÖHME. A unique snake assemblage from the Early Miocene locality of Wintershof-West, Germany, with comments on the transitional period in the evolution of European snake fauna. Swiss Journal of Palaeontology. SPRINGER HEIDELBERG, 2025, roč. 144, č. 1, s. 1-67. ISSN 1664-2376. Dostupné z: https://doi.org/10.1186/s13358-025-00414-0.

@article{2529638,
   author = {Ivanov, Martin and Paclík, Václav and Hernández Luján, Ángel and Böhme, Madelaine},
   article_number = {1},
   doi = {https://doi.org/10.1186/s13358-025-00414-0},
   keywords = {Booidea; Colubriformes; Climatic evolution; Burdigalian; Palaeobiogeography; Bavaria},
   language = {eng},
   issn = {1664-2376},
   journal = {Swiss Journal of Palaeontology},
   title = {A unique snake assemblage from the Early Miocene locality of Wintershof-West, Germany, with comments on the transitional period in the evolution of European snake fauna},
   url = {https://doi.org/10.1186/s13358-025-00414-0},
   volume = {144},
   year = {2025}
}

TY  - JOUR
ID  - 2529638
AU  - Ivanov, Martin - Paclík, Václav - Hernández Luján, Ángel - Böhme, Madelaine
PY  - 2025
TI  - A unique snake assemblage from the Early Miocene locality of Wintershof-West, Germany, with comments on the transitional period in the evolution of European snake fauna
JF  - Swiss Journal of Palaeontology
VL  - 144
IS  - 1
SP  - 1-67
EP  - 1-67
PB  - SPRINGER HEIDELBERG
SN  - 16642376
KW  - Booidea
KW  - Colubriformes
KW  - Climatic evolution
KW  - Burdigalian
KW  - Palaeobiogeography
KW  - Bavaria
UR  - https://doi.org/10.1186/s13358-025-00414-0
N2  - The early Burdigalian (20.4–18.2 Ma) ophidian localities are rare in the European fossil record and with exception of Merkur-North (Ahníkov I), Czechia (early MN 3) our knowledge on the evolution of snake communities before the Early Ottnangian Cooling (EOC; 18.1–17.8 Ma) event are still strongly restricted. Here we present the unusually diversified snake community from the German Early Miocene (early Burdigalian, early MN 3) Wintershof-West locality based on the detailed comparative osteological studies with a special focus on the intracolumnar variability. The following snake taxa have been reported from Wintershof-West: Alethinophidia incertae sedis (cf. Falseryx sp.), Booidea (Bavarioboa wintershofensis sp. nov., Booidea indet.), Viperidae (Viperinae indet. – ‘Oriental vipers’, Vipera sp. [‘V. aspis’ complex]), Elapidae (‘Micrurus’ gallicus, Elapidae indet., type 1), Natricidae (Natrix cf. sansaniensis, Wintershofia robusta gen. et sp. nov., Palaeonatrix aff. lehmani, Natricidae indet., type 1, Natricidae indet.), ‘Colubridae’ (‘Coluber’ aff. caspioides, ‘Colubridae’ indet., type 1, 2, and 3, ‘Colubridae’ indet.), and Colubroidea indet. The snake community from Wintershof-West documents the first return of the genus Bavarioboa (B. wintershofensis sp. nov.) into Europe after its temporal demise from European region during the latest Oligocene climatic deterioration. Colubriform snakes became diversified in Central Europe during the onset of the early Burdigalian ~20 Mya. Viperid snakes from Wintershof-West comprise the earliest known distinct appearance of ‘Oriental vipers’. Several other colubriform taxa display their first documented appearance including Palaeonatrix aff. lehmani and ‘Coluber’ aff. caspioides which might represent the evolutionary older members of the ‘C.’ caspioides and P. lehmani lineages. The unusual diversification of snake taxa resulted from the onset of the warm early Burdigalian climate, which we refer here as the Eggenburgian Climatic Optimum (ECO). The presence of several thermophilic taxa in Wintershof-West including cf. Falseryx sp., Bavarioboa wintershofensis sp. nov., ‘Micrurus’ gallicus and another indeterminate coral snake, and ‘Oriental vipers’, point to a relatively major warming before the onset of the EOC event. However, the absence of highly thermophilic true cobras of the genus Naja as well as Pythonoidea in Central European MN 3 localities demonstrates mean annual temperatures did not reach their maximum, as during the Miocene Thermal Maximum (MTM, MN 4) of the middle and late Ottnangian. The karstic environment around the Wintershof-West locality corresponds to the semi-arid hydroclimate which fits with the numerous small booidea and ‘Oriental vipers’. Wintershof-West is the best documented early Burdigalian (early MN 3, Eggenburgian) ophidian locality in Europe which substantially increases our knowledge of the evolution of European snake fauna during its transitional period of the early Burdigalian.
ER  -

IVANOV, Martin; Václav PACLÍK; Ángel HERNÁNDEZ LUJÁN a Madelaine BÖHME. A unique snake assemblage from the Early Miocene locality of Wintershof-West, Germany, with comments on the transitional period in the evolution of European snake fauna. \textit{Swiss Journal of Palaeontology}. SPRINGER HEIDELBERG, 2025, roč.~144, č.~1, s.~1-67. ISSN~1664-2376. Dostupné z: https://doi.org/10.1186/s13358-025-00414-0.

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