Pterosphenus muruntau – valid species of sea snakes (Squamata: Palaeophiidae) from the middle Eocene of Uzbekistan

A.O. Averianov

Abstract. A palaeophiid sea snake Pterosphenus muruntau Averianov, 1997 was based on two trunk vertebrae and several vertebral fragments from the middle Eocene (Bartonian) coastal marine deposits of Dzheroi 2 locality in the Central Kyzylkum Desert, Uzbekistan. The species was considered a nomen dubium by Rage and coauthors in 2003 based on alleged poor preservation of the type specimens. However, the preservation of the holotype of P. muruntau is sufficient to discern a slightly laterally compressed vertebra and a low pterapophysis, the characters that distinguish this species from the other species of Pterosphenus. These characters are also clear in a new and better preserved vertebra of P. muruntau from the type locality. Pterosphenus muruntau should be considered a valid species of the genus Pterosphenus.

Key words: Eocene, Uzbekistan, morphology, diagnostic characters, redescription, Squamata, Palaeophiidae

Zoosystematica Rossica, 2023, 32(1): 85-92 ▪ Published online 18 June 2023

https://doi.org/10.31610/zsr/2023.32.1.85 ▪ Open full article

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