Lapparentophis Explained

Lapparentophis (meaning "Lapparent's snake") is an extinct genus of terrestrial ophidian known from the Kem Kem Beds of Northwestern Africa (Algeria, Morocco & Sudan) that was first described by Robert Hoffstetter in 1959.^[1] Two species are known: the type species, L. defrennei from Algeria, and a second species, L. ragei from Morocco, which is only known from the holotype MHNM.KK387 and the paratype MHNM.KK388, two isloated trunk vertebrae.^[2]

Lapparentophis is probably the sister taxon of the slightly younger Pouitella from the Cenomanian of France.^[3] Lapparentophis was initially believed to have been a snake, but later studies have found it to fall under Ophidia, the clade which Serpentes also belongs to.

Notes and References

1. Hoffstetter, R. (1959). A terrestrial snake in the Lower Cretaceous of the Sahara [in French]. Bulletin de la Société Géologique de France, 7e série 1:897-902
2. Romain Vullo . 2019 . A new species of Lapparentophis from the mid-Cretaceous Kem Kem beds, Morocco, with remarks on the distribution of lapparentophiid snakes . Comptes Rendus Palevol . 18 . 7 . 765–770 . 10.1016/j.crpv.2019.08.004 . 210297438 . free .
3. Rage, J-C. (1988). A primitive snake in the Cenomanian. [in French] C. R. Acad. Sci. Paris, Sér. II. 307, 1027-1032