Eophis Explained

Eophis is an early genus of stem-snake (clade Ophidia)[1] containing one species, Eophis underwoodi, from the Middle Jurassic (Bathonian) from the Forest Marble Formation of United Kingdom. It is known from a fragmentary dentary from Kirtlington Quarry. It was previously interpreted as an anguimorph lizard. The placement of Eophis as a stem snake was re-affirmed by subsequent analyses.[2]

Phylogeny

Cladogram based in the phylogenetic analysis by Caldwell et al. (2015):

Notes and References

  1. 10.1038/ncomms6996. The oldest known snakes from the Middle Jurassic-Lower Cretaceous provide insights on snake evolution. Nature Communications. 6. 5996. 2015. Caldwell . M. W. . Nydam . R. L. . Palci . A. . Apesteguía . S. N. . 25625704. 2015NatCo...6.5996C. free . 11336/37995 . free .
  2. Harrington. Sean M.. Reeder. Tod W.. 2017-02-18. Phylogenetic inference and divergence dating of snakes using molecules, morphology and fossils: new insights into convergent evolution of feeding morphology and limb reduction. Biological Journal of the Linnean Society. 121. 2. 379–394. 10.1093/biolinnean/blw039. 0024-4066. free.

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