Leiopython Hubrecht, 1879

Szyndlar, Zbigniew & Georgalis, Georgios L., 2023, An illustrated atlas of the vertebral morphology of extant non-caenophidian snakes, with special emphasis on the cloacal and caudal portions of the column, Vertebrate Zoology 73, pp. 717-886 : 717

Leiopython Hubrecht, 1879

Material examined.

Leiopython albertisii (Peters & Doria, 1878) (SMF PH 50).

Description (Figs 173-174).

Trunk vertebrae. There is much similarity with Simalia described above. Centrum much shorter than wide; cotyle and condyle orbicular or moderately flattened; neural arch moderately vaulted; neural spine relatively short and its posterodorsal edge posteriorly inclined; hypapophyses disappear after V 50; haemal keel in succeeding vertebrae rather broad.

Trunk / caudal transition. The subcentral structures of this vertebral region are more or less similar to that of Simalia described above. The posteriormost trunk vertebrae develop a very short hypapophysis. Cloacal vertebrae possess a grooved hypapophysis. This grooved hypapophysis develops even more in anterior caudal vertebrae, being reminiscent of “quasi-haemapophyses”, but normally shaped haemapophyses commence at the level of C 6, and subsequently continue throughout the tail. The posteriormost vertebrae are fused.

No vertebrae of Leiopython had so far been figured but additional observations can be gleaned from the short description of the caudal vertebral patterns by McDowell (1975), who personally studied a skeleton of Leiopython albertisii . According to that author, the anteriormost three caudal vertebrae ("3 vertebrae with simple transverse processes" in his writings) possessed a haemal keel ("free, triangular haemal bones on the ventral surface of the centra" in his writings), while the succeeding 65 caudal vertebrae possessed typically paired haemapophyses, followed by six fused posteriormost caudal vertebrae ( McDowell 1975: 43).

Number of vertebrae. Leiopython albertisii (SMF PH 50): 350 (279+5+66 [including a final fusion]).

Data from literature (all for Leiopython albertisii ): 273 trunk vertebrae plus 5 cloacal vertebrae plus 77 caudal vertebrae (posteriormost 6 caudal vertebrae are fused) ( McDowell 1975); 347 vertebrae in total ( Parmley and Reed 2003).