Eryx, Daudin, 1803

Delfino, Massimo, Bailon, Salvador & Pitruzzella, Gaetano, 2011, The Late Pliocene amphibians and reptiles from “ Capo Mannu D 1 Local Fauna ” (Mandriola, Sardinia, Italy), Geodiversitas 33 (2), pp. 357-382 : 373-374

Eryx cf. E. jaculus (Linnaeus, 1758) ( Fig. 6 D-G)

MATERIAL EXAMINED. — Cervical vertebra: 1; trunk vertebra: 9; caudal vertebra: 2.

DESCRIPTION

The cervical vertebra preserves only the centrum: it is very short (1.1 mm) but proportionally wide (at least as wide as long); cotyles and condyle are dorsoventrally flattened; the remnants of the hypapophysis are present.

The trunk vertebrae share the following common features (not necessarily visible on all the remains): centrum rather short but invariably wider than long (the largest well-preserved vertebra has a length of 1.4 mm and a width of 1.9 mm; some vertebral fragments belonged to vertebrae slightly larger); cotyles and condyles dorsoventrally flattened; paracotylar foramina absent; the haemal keel wide and low, with weakly defined margins; tiny subcentral and lateral foramina variably present; parapophyseal processes not developed; paradiapophyses proportionally big; dia- and parapophyseal regions not well separated from each other; pre- and postzygapophyses dorsally tilted; prezygapohyseal processes very short and pointed; neural canal proportionally large; the anterior end of neural arch slightly convex; the neural arch depressed and its dorsal edges straight to weakly convex in posterior view; the neural spine originating far from the anterior edge of the neural arch and, despite invariably broken, probably low.

The two caudal vertebrae are not complete but taken together they preserve all the vertebral structures except the neural spine. The largest vertebra has a centrum length of 2.2 mm. The caudal morphology assessed on these remains is characterized by roundish cotyles and condyles; long laminar haemapophyses and pleurapophyses; absence of subcotylar processes; neural canal rather small (smaller than the cotyle in anterior view); neural arch devoid of zygosphene and zygantrum; postzygapophyses not developing wide wings; prezygapophyses devoid of processes and well separated from the postzygapophyses; additional process between the neural spine and the postzygapophysis developed as a spine directed anteriorly.

DISCUSSION

On the basis of the diagnostic characters discussed by Szyndlar in several papers concerning the identification of the erycine boids from the Neogene and Quaternary of Europe (among others, Szyndlar 1991a; Szyndlar& Schleich 1993, 1994), it is possible to tentatively refer the Erycinae remains from the Capo Mannu D1 LF to Eryx jaculus . Such identification is based on the well-developed haemapophyses that characterize the posterior caudal vertebrae of the Euro-Asiatic species of this genus and by the separation of the prezygapophysis from the postzygapophyseal wings that characterizes this species. The qualifier “cf.” precedes the specific identification in order to underline that the scarcity of the remains and their imperfect preservation hinder a confident identification.

Figures

FIG. 6. — Fossil remains of reptiles from Capo Mannu D1 Local Fauna (Sardinia): A-C, Amphisbaenia indet., trunk vertebra (DSTC 6021), dorsal, left lateral and ventral views; D-F, Eryx cf. E. jaculus, trunk vertebra (DST 6022), dorsal, ventral and posterior views; G, caudal vertebra (DSTC 6023), anterior view. Scale bars: 2 mm.