Fossil snakes from the Eocene of India: New material with comments on phylogenetic relations and biogeographic and palaeoecological implications

Eocene snakes of India have the potential to shed light on the nature of snake diversification on the subcontinent following the Deccan volcanism at the Cretaceous–Paleogene boundary (K-Pg), when India was still a northward drifting isolated landmass prior to its collision with Asia. Here we report a diverse snake fauna from the Eocene of Kutch, western India. The fauna, dominated by aquatic forms, include palaeophiids, a giant madtsoiid and a possible nigerophiid. The palaeophiids from the middle Eocene (late Lutetian) comprise ?Palaeophis and Pterosphenus rannensis sp. nov. Together, these taxa enrich the record of fossil snakes the poorly known late Lutetian of India and represent the youngest record of Palaeophiidae from the Indian subcontinent. Pt. rannensis shows intermediate morphology between Palaeophis and Pterosphenus-grade snakes, and is phylogenetically the earliest-diverging member of Pterosphenus. Additionally, the middle Eocene Pt. biswasi is reassessed and retained as a ..., , , # Fossil snakes from the Eocene of India: New material with comments on phylogenetic relations and biogeographic and palaeoecological implications

[https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.z8w9ghxq2](https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.z8w9ghxq2)

## Description of the data and file structure

This folder contains the appendices associated with the paper entitled \"Fossil snakes from the Eocene of India: New material with comments on phylogenetic relations and biogeographic and palaeoecological implications\". The data in these files are important for identification of the examined fossils; support and reproduction of the results of the anatomical and comparative study and phylogenetic analysis.

These appendices are .txt files that contains the following:

1. Appendix 1- List of fossil specimens examined with information on their taxonomic designation and anatomical position.

Abbreviation used: IITR/VPL/SB, Vertebrate Paleontology Laboratory, Indian Institute of Technology Roorkee, Roorkee, India
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