Python europaeus Szyndlar & Rage, 2003: 68-72 Python europaeus Python Python P . europaeus P . europaeus COLUBRIDAE Oppel, 1811 Amphibians and squamate reptiles from the late early Miocene (MN 4) of Béon 1 (Montréal-du-Gers, southwestern France) Rage, Jean-Claude Bailon, Salvador Geodiversitas 2005 27 3 413 441 Szyndlar & Rage, 2003 Szyndlar & Rage 2003 [717,1168,1356,1381] Reptilia Pythonidae Python Animalia Squamata 14 427 Chordata species europaeus    Pythonsp.– Ivanov 2000: 561-563; 2001: 564, tab. 1; 2002: 531, fig. 12, tab. 1.      Python europaeus Szyndlar & Rage, 2003: 68-72, figs 31-33.  MATERIAL EXAMINED. — 33 trunk vertebrae (Béon 2004 LT 59; Béon 93 E3 SN 3, 4; Béon 98 E3 3023, 3040, 3053, 3056; Béon 98 F1 3049) and 1 caudal vertebra (Béon 2004 LT 60).  COMMENTS    Python europaeuswas described recently on the basis of specimens from Vieux-Collonges (MN 4/5, early/middle Miocene transition) and “old levels” from La Grive (MN 5, early middle Miocene), both localities in France( Szyndlar & Rage 2003). The assignment of this species to  Pythonrests mainly on one single palatine from Vieux-Collonges, but the vertebrae also show a combination of features that is characteristic for this genus: haemal keel well defined by subcentral grooves or depressions that reach the cotyle, but only its posterior part projects below the centrum ( Scanlon & Mackness 2001); neural arch markedly vaulted and upswept above the zygantrum; zygapophyseal facets weakly inclined; paracotylar foramina absent. Within  Python, the vertebrae of  P. europaeusare characterized by their low neural spines. The vertebrae from Béon 1 are quite similar to those from Vieux-Collonges and La Grive. The largest vertebra from Béon 1 (centrum length: 11.1 mm) is slightly larger than those from Vieux-Collonges and La Grive (centrum lengths: 10.1 and 10.7 mm respectively) but, on the whole, the size is similar in the three localities. Only one difference may be noted: at Béon 1, the central lobe of the zygosphene, when present, is more prominent than in the other localities.  P. europaeusis restricted to the late early and early middle Miocene (MN 4 and MN 5) of France. Béon 1 has yielded the earliest representatives of the species. Family COLUBRIDAE Oppel, 1811