Kooperativer Bibliotheksverbund

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Format: 1 online resource (xii, 472 pages) : , digital, PDF file(s).

ISBN: 1-108-94583-X , 1-108-93889-2

Series Statement: The Systematics Association special volume series ; volume 90

Content: Snakes comprise nearly 4,000 extant species found on all major continents except Antarctica. Morphologically and ecologically diverse, they include burrowing, arboreal, and marine forms, feeding on prey ranging from insects to large mammals. Snakes are strikingly different from their closest lizard relatives, and their origins and early diversification have long challenged and enthused evolutionary biologists. The origin and early evolution of snakes is a broad, interdisciplinary topic for which experts in palaeontology, ecology, physiology, embryology, phylogenetics, and molecular biology have made important contributions. The last 25 years has seen a surge of interest, resulting partly from new fossil material, but also from new techniques in molecular and systematic biology. This volume summarises and discusses the state of our knowledge, approaches, data, and ongoing debates. It provides reviews, syntheses, new data and perspectives on a wide range of topics relevant to students and researchers in evolutionary biology, neontology, and palaeontology.

Note: Title from publisher's bibliographic system (viewed on 29 Jul 2022). , Cover -- Half-title -- Series information -- Title page -- Copyright information -- Dedication -- Contents -- List of Contributors -- Preface -- 1 Introduction -- 1.1 Introduction -- 1.2 Scope and Coverage -- 1.3 Debate, Disagreement, and Consensus -- 1.4 Concluding Remarks -- Acknowledgements -- References -- Part I The Squamate and Snake Fossil Record -- 2 The Origin and Early Diversification of Squamates -- 2.1 Introduction -- 2.2 The Early Squamate Fossil Record -- 2.3 The First Records of Crown-Group Squamates -- 2.3.1 Gekkota -- 2.3.2 Dibamidae -- 2.3.3 Scincoidea -- 2.3.4 Lacertoidea -- 2.3.5 Anguimorpha -- 2.3.6 Iguania -- 2.3.7 Mosasauria -- 2.3.8 Pan-Serpentes -- 2.4 Discussion and Conclusion -- Acknowledgements -- References -- 3 The First 80 Million Years of Snake Evolution: The Mesozoic Fossil Record of Snakes and Its Implications for Origin Hypotheses, Biogeography, and Mass Extinction -- 3.1 Introduction -- 3.2 Vertebral Morphology and Its Necessity for Inferring the Evolution of Snakes -- 3.3 The Mesozoic Fossil Record of Snakes -- 3.3.1 Jurassic and Early Cretaceous Records -- 3.3.2 Late Cretaceous Records: Cenomanian to Turonian -- 3.3.3 Late Cretaceous Records: Campanian to Maastrichtian -- 3.4 Discussion -- 3.4.1 Systematics of Cretaceous Snakes and the Ecological Context of Snake Origins -- 3.4.2 Origin of the Snake Body Form -- 3.4.3 Cretaceous Biogeography and Snake Origins -- 3.4.4 Survival across the K-Pg Extinction Event -- 3.5 Conclusions -- Acknowledgements -- References -- 4 The Diversity and Distribution of Palaeogene Snakes: A Review with Comments on Vertebral Sufficiency -- 4.1 Introduction -- 4.2 Taxonomic Framework of Palaeogene Snakes -- 4.3 The Distribution of Palaeogene Snakes -- 4.3.1 Distribution of Localities in Space and Time -- 4.3.2 Distribution of Taxa in Space and Time. , 4.4 The Ecology of Palaeogene Snakes -- 4.5 The Problem of Vertebral Sufficiency -- 4.5.1 Do Snake Vertebrae Accurately Record Phylogenetic Affinity? -- 4.5.2 Do Snake Vertebrae Accurately Record Species Diversity? -- 4.6 Conclusions -- Acknowledgements -- References -- 5 Miocene Snakes of Eurasia: A Review of the Evolution of Snake Communities -- 5.1 Introduction -- 5.2 Eurasian Snakes at the Late Oligocene to Early Miocene Transition -- 5.3 Early and Middle Burdigalian (Early Miocene): A Rapid Change in Composition of European Snake Communities -- 5.4 Miocene Climatic Optimum (MCO): The 'Golden Age' of Eurasian Snake Faunas -- 5.5 Late Middle Miocene Snakes from Eurasia: A Step towards Modern Snake Faunas in Europe -- 5.6 Late Miocene Climatic Oscillations and Their Relation to the Composition of Eurasian Snake Communities -- 5.7 Summary -- Acknowledgements -- References -- Part II Palaeontology and the Marine-Origin Hypothesis -- 6 Sea-Serpentism -- 6.1 Introduction: The Genesis of a Myth -- 6.2 The Proliferation of a Myth -- 6.3 The Scientific Approach to a Myth -- 6.4 Names Change Meanings: The Myth Turns Real -- 6.5 The Real Sea Serpent -- 6.6 The Sea Serpent's Legs -- 6.7 Conclusion -- Acknowledgements -- References -- 7 Reassessing the Morphological Foundations of the Pythonomorph Hypothesis -- 7.1 Introduction -- 7.2 The Morphology of Early Diverging Mosasaurians -- 7.2.1 Snout, Palate, and Circumorbital Bones -- Narial Retraction -- Premaxilla -- Septomaxillae and Vomers -- Palatine -- Lacrimal -- Pterygoid and Ectopterygoid -- 7.2.2 Skull Roof and Braincase -- Parietal Downgrowth -- Prootic-Supratemporal Contact -- Braincase -- Basipterygoid Processes -- 7.2.3 Suspensorium and Quadrate -- The Quadrate -- 7.2.4 Mandibles -- Free Symphysis of Mandibles -- Dentary Margin -- Dentary Subdental Shelf Development -- Intramandibular Joint. , Posterior Mandible Characters -- 7.2.6 Marginal Dentition -- Tooth Implantation -- Tooth Replacement -- 7.2.7 Postcrania -- 7.3 Conclusions and Closing Remarks -- Acknowledgements -- References -- 8 A Review of Non-Mosasaurid (Dolichosaur and Aigialosaur) Mosasaurians and Their Relationships to Snakes -- 8.1 Introduction -- 8.2 An Historical Perspective of Dolichosaurids and Aigialosaurs -- 8.3 Morphological versus Molecular Evidence in Squamate Systematics -- 8.4 Character Scoring and the Quality of Phylogenetic Reconstructions of Mosasaurian Relationships -- 8.5 A Phylogenetic Reappraisal of Dolichosaurid and Aigialosaur Affinities -- 8.6 The Pythonomorph and Ophidiomorph Hypotheses Revisited -- 8.7 Concluding Remarks and Future Prospects -- Acknowledgements -- References -- 9 A Review of the Skull Anatomy and Phylogenetic Affinities of Marine Pachyophiid Snakes -- 9.1 Introduction -- 9.2 Monophyly and Taxonomic Content of Pachyophiidae -- 9.3 A Review of the Morphological Evidence -- 9.3.1 Snout -- 9.3.2 Braincase -- 9.3.3 Palatomaxillary Complex -- 9.3.4 The Circumorbital Bones -- 9.3.5 Suspensorium and Mandible -- 9.4 Pachyophiids as Derived Alethinophidian Snakes -- 9.5 Concluding Remarks -- Acknowledgements -- References -- Part III Genomic Perspectives -- 10 Using Comparative Genomics to Resolve the Origin and Early Evolution of Snakes -- 10.1 Introduction -- 10.2 The Evolution of Molecular Phylogenetics for Snakes -- 10.3 Characteristics and Phylogenetic Coding of Snake Genomes -- 10.4 Unresolved and Contentious Branches for Snakes -- 10.4.1 Scolecophidia -- 10.4.2 Colubroidea -- 10.4.3 Toxicofera and Macrostomata -- 10.5 Conclusions -- Acknowledgements -- References -- 11 The Evolution of Squamate Chitinase Genes (CHIAs) Supports an Insectivory-Carnivory Transition during the Early History of Snakes -- 11.1 Introduction. , 11.2 Materials and Methods -- 11.2.1 Data Collection -- 11.2.2 Analyses -- 11.3 Results -- 11.4 Discussion -- Acknowledgements -- References -- 12 Origin and Early Diversification of the Enigmatic Squamate Venom Cocktail -- 12.1 Introduction -- 12.2 Venom from an Ecological Perspective -- 12.3 Composition of Venom Cocktails -- 12.4 Evolutionary Origin and Diversification of Squamate Venom -- 12.5 Venom Delivery Systems -- 12.6 The Long-Standing Debate on the Origin of Venom in Squamate Reptiles -- 12.7 The Verdict: Evidence for and against the Toxicofera Hypothesis of Squamate Venoms -- 12.8 Conclusion -- Acknowledgements -- References -- Part IV Neurobiological Perspectives -- 13 Using Adaptive Traits in the Ear to Estimate Ecology of Early Snakes -- 13.1 Introduction -- 13.2 The Snake Inner Ear: General Anatomy and Function -- 13.3 Morphological Variation of the Bony Labyrinth in Habitat Generalists and Specialists -- 13.3.1 Typhlopidae, Leptotyphlopidae, and Anomalepididae -- 13.3.2 Alethinophidia: Aniliidae, Cylindrophiidae, and Uropeltidae -- 13.3.3 Alethinophidia: Pythonidae, Loxocemidae, and Xenopeltidae -- 13.3.4 Alethinophidia: Boidae, Erycidae, and Ungaliophiidae -- 13.3.5 Caenophidia: Acrochordidae and Xenodermidae -- 13.3.6 Caenophidia: Pareidae and Viperidae -- 13.3.7 Caenophidia: Elapidae, Homalopsidae, and Lamprophiidae -- 13.3.8 Caenophidia: Colubroidea -- 13.4 Ears of Non-Ophidian Squamates ('Lizards') -- 13.5 Indicators of Ecology: Quantitative Analyses of the Squamate Bony Labyrinth -- 13.5.1 Landmark-Based Multivariate Methods -- 13.5.2 Semicircular Canal Size and Shape -- 13.6 Estimating the Ecology of Extinct Snakes -- 13.7 Summary -- Acknowledgements -- References -- 14 A Glimpse into the Evolution of the Ophidian Brain -- 14.1 Introduction -- 14.2 Gross Anatomy of the Snake Brain. , 14.2.1 Brain-Head Relations and Endocast Fidelity -- 14.2.2 Gross Brain Anatomy of Extant Snakes -- Forebrain -- Midbrain -- Hindbrain -- 14.2.3 The Endocast of Dinilysia patagonica -- 14.3 Discussion -- 14.3.1 Burrowing and Brain Anatomy -- 14.3.2 Gross Anatomical Features of the Brain and Their Correspondence with Histology of Some Sensory Processing Structures -- Forebrain -- Midbrain -- Hindbrain -- 14.3.3 Brain Gross Anatomy of Dinilysia, Its Palaeoecology, and Snake Origins -- 14.4 Concluding Remarks -- Acknowledgements -- References -- 15 Eyes, Vision, and the Origins and Early Evolution of Snakes -- 15.1 Introduction -- 15.2 The Ancestral Snake and Other Terminology -- 15.3 Vertebrate Vision -- 15.4 Lines of Evidence -- 15.4.1 The Disparate Morphology of the Snake Visual System -- 15.4.2 Ocular-Media Anatomy, Transmittance, and Refractive Index -- 15.4.3 Pupils -- 15.4.4 Retinal Anatomy -- Histology -- Immunohistochemistry -- Electron Microscopy -- Retinal Wholemounts -- Retinal Circuitry -- 15.4.5 Microspectophotometry -- 15.4.6 In vitro Regeneration of Visual Pigments -- 15.4.7 Visual-Pigment Spectral Tuning -- 15.4.8 Vision-Gene DNA Sequences, Including Genomes and Transcriptomes -- 15.4.9 Selection Tests for Inferring Molecular Genetic Evolution -- 15.4.10 Electrophysiology -- 15.4.11 Behaviour -- 15.4.12 Phylogenetics and Ancestral-State Estimation -- 15.4.13 Palaeontology -- 15.5 The Visual System of the Ancestral and Other Early Snakes -- 15.6 Future Directions and Prospects -- Acknowledgements -- References -- Part V Anatomical and Functional Morphological Perspectives -- 16 Diversity and Evolution of Squamate Hemipenes: An Overview with Particular Reference to the Origin and Early History of Snakes -- 16.1 Introduction -- 16.1.1 The Squamate Phallus -- 16.2 Hemipenial Terminology -- 16.2.1 Hemipenial Lobes -- 16.2.2 Sulcus Spermaticus.

Additional Edition: ISBN 1-108-83734-4

Language: English