Colombophis portai Hoffstetter & Rage, 1977

Alfonso-Rojas, Andrés, Vanegas, Rubén D., Mariño-Morejón, Elizabeth & Cadena, Edwin-Alberto, 2023, Newly discovered fossils provide novel insights on the biology of the South American Miocene snake Colombophis Hoffstetter & Rage, 1977, Geodiversitas 45 (13), pp. 377-399 : 382

Colombophis portai Hoffstetter & Rage, 1977

( Figs 3-5 )

Colombophis portai Hoffstetter & Rage, 1977: 174 .

REVISED DIAGNOSIS. — Fossil snake with pre-cloacal vertebrae medium to large in size (cl = c. 5-11 mm); the neural arch is depressed, with a shallow median notch in the posterior border; neural spine is reduced to a small tubercle with a circular or triangular outline from dorsal view, and is restricted to the posterior end of the neural arch; prezygapophyses are anterolaterally oriented and highly inclined above the horizontal plane, reaching the level of the zygosphene roof; prezygapophyzeal process is short; presence of paracotylar and parazygantral foramina is variable; synapophyses are undivided; haemal keel is broad with a single or divergent apophysis in the posterior end; subcentral foramina are usually placed close to the sagittal plane, usually small but can be enlarged or absent; the centrum length is longer than the neural arch width (cl> naw); the neural arch is longer than width (pr-po> naw) and the length is proportional to its high (pr-po = c. h).

REFERRED MATERIAL. — VPPLT-0067, an anterior-trunk vertebra ( Fig. 3C ); VPPLT-0068 ( Fig. 3D ), an anterior-trunk vertebra; VPPLT-0070, a posterior-trunk vertebra; VPPLT-0430, a mid-trunk vertebra; VPPLT-0799, a mid-trunk vertebra; VPPLT-0845, a fragmentary mid-trunk vertebra; VPPLT-0869, a posterior-trunk vertebra; VPPLT-0871, a fragmentary mid-trunk vertebra; VPPLT-1006, a mid-trunk vertebra ( Fig. 3A, B ); VPPLT-1160, a fragmentary posterior-trunk vertebra; VPPLT-1166, a posterior-trunk vertebra; VPPLT-1253, a posterior-trunk vertebra; VPPLT-1551, two associated mid-trunk vertebrae; VPPLT-1564, nine pre-cloacal articulated vertebrae together with seven associated and badly preserved fragments of rock matrix with ribs and vertebral fragments embedded ( Fig. 5 ); VPPLT-1731, a fragmentary mid-trunk vertebra; VPPLT-1734, a mid-trunk vertebra; VPPLT-1735, four mid-trunk vertebrae fragments associated with a posterior-trunk vertebra ( Fig. 3F ); VPPLT-1738, a mid-trunk vertebra; VPPLT-1739, an anterior-trunk vertebra ( Fig. 3E ); VPPLT-1740, five mid-trunk vertebrae fragments associated with a posterior-trunk vertebrae and a post-cloacal vertebrae ( Fig. 4 ).

Figures

FIG. 3. — Colombophis portai Hoffstetter & Rage, 1977 specimens! A, B, VPPLT-1006; C, VPPLT-0067; D, VPPLT-0068; E, VPPLT-1739; F, VPPLT-1735. Views: 1, anterior;2, dorsal; 3, lateral;4, ventral, 5, posterior views. Scale bars: 10 mm.

FIG. 4. — Colombophis portai Hoffstetter & Rage,1977 VPPLT-1740 specimen,which consists of seven associated vertebrae:A, B, mid-trunk vertebra;C, D, midtrunk vertebra; E, F, posterior-trunk vertebra. Views: 1, anterior; 2, dorsal; 3, lateral; 4, ventral; 5, posterior views. Scale bar: 10 mm.

FIG. 5. — Colombophis portai Hoffstetter & Rage, 1977 VPPLT-1564 specimen: A, B, nine articulated precloacal vertebrae; C, D, several fragments of precloacal vertebrae and ribs embedded in the rock matrix; E-I, three articulated precloacal vertebrae in dorsal (E, F), anterior (G) and ventral (H, I) views; J-M, isolated vertebra in anterior (J, K) and posterior (L, M) views. Scale bars: A, B, 50 mm; C-N, 10 mm.