Lapparentophis
Temporal range: Early-Late Cretaceous, ?Albian–Cenomanian
MHNM.KK387, the holotype of L. ragei
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Reptilia
Order: Squamata
Family: †Lapparentophiidae
Genus: †Lapparentophis
Hoffstetter, 1959
Type species
†Lapparentophis defrennei
Hoffstetter, 1959
Other species
  • †L. ragei Vullo, 2019

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,[1] 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.[2][3] Lapparentophis was initially believed to have been a snake, but later studies have found it to fall under Ophidia,[2] the clade which Serpentes also belongs to.

References

  1. ^ a b 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. ^ a b c 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. doi:10.1016/j.crpv.2019.08.004. S2CID 210297438.
  3. ^ Rage, J-C. (1988). A primitive snake in the Cenomanian. [in French] C. R. Acad. Sci. Paris, Sér. II. 307, 1027-1032
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