Gigantophis

Gigantophis Temporal range: Priabonian, 37–35  Ma PreꞒ Ꞓ O S D C P T J K Pg N ↓
Cast of vertebrae, University of Michigan Museum of Natural History
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Reptilia
Order:	Squamata
Family:	† Madtsoiidae
Genus:	† Gigantophis
Species:	†G. garstini [1]
Binomial name
†Gigantophis garstini [1] C. W. Andrews, 1901 [2]

Gigantophis is an extinct genus of giant snake containing a single species, G. garstini. ^[3] Before the Paleocene constrictor genus Titanoboa was described from Colombia in 2009, G. garstini was regarded as the largest snake ever recorded. It lived about 40 million years ago during the Eocene epoch of the Paleogene Period, in the Paratethys Sea, within the northern Sahara, where Egypt ^[4] and Algeria are now located.

Description

Size

A diagram showing the estimated lengths of Gigantophis garstini compared to other large snakes.

Jason Head, of the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, DC, has compared fossil Gigantophis garstini vertebrae to those of the largest modern snakes, and concluded that the extinct snake could grow from 9.3 to 10.7 m (30.5 to 35.1 ft) in length. If 10.7 m (35.1 ft), it would have been more than 10% longer than its largest living relatives. ^{[5] [6]}

Later estimates, based on allometric equations scaled from the articular processes of tail vertebrae referred to Gigantophis garstini, revised the length of Gigantophis garstini to 6.9 ± 0.3 metres (22.64 ± 0.98 ft). ^[3]

Discovery

The species is known only from a small number of fossils, mostly vertebrae.

Its discovery was published in 1901 by paleontologist Charles William Andrews, who described it, estimated its length to be about 30 feet, and named it garstini in honor of Sir William Garstin, KCMG, the Under Secretary of State for Public Works in Egypt. ^[7] In 2013, vertebrae collected in Pakistan were found to be similar to Gigantophis vertebrae collected in Egypt, but their exact affinities are uncertain. ^[8]

Classification

Gigantophis garstini is classified as a member of the extinct family Madtsoiidae.

References

1. "Gigantophis". The Paleobiology Database. Archived from the original on 2008-04-30. Retrieved 2012-07-11.
2. "Gigantophis garstini". The Paleobiology Database. Archived from the original on 2019-12-17. Retrieved 2012-07-10.
3. Rio, J.P; Mannion, P.D. (2017). "The osteology of the giant snake Gigantophis garstini from the upper Eocene of North Africa and its bearing on the phylogenetic relationships and biogeography of Madtsoiidae" (PDF). Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology. 37 (4): e1347179. doi: 10.1080/02724634.2017.1347179 . S2CID   90335531.
4. Dunham, Will (2009-02-04). "Titanic ancient snake was as long as Tyrannosaurus". Reuters UK. Archived from the original on February 7, 2009. Retrieved 2012-07-10.
5. Head, J.; Polly, D. (2004). "They might be giants: morphometric methods for reconstructing body size in the world's largest snakes". Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology . 24 (Supp. 3): 68A –69A. doi:10.1080/02724634.2004.10010643. S2CID   220415208.
6. "A giant among snakes". New Scientist . No. 2473. 10 November 2004. p. 17.
7. Andrews, Chas. W. (October 1901). "II.—Preliminary Note on some Recently Discovered Extinct Vertebrates from Egypt. (Part II.)". Geological Magazine. 8 (10): 436–444. Bibcode:1901GeoM....8..436A. doi:10.1017/S0016756800179750. S2CID   86545487.
8. Rage, Jean-Claude; Métais, Grégoire; Bartolini, Annachiara; Brohi, Imdad A.; Lashari, Rafiq A.; Marivaux, Laurent; Merle, Didier; Solangi, Sarfraz H. (May 2014). "First report of the giant snake Gigantophis (Madtsoiidae) from the Paleocene of Pakistan: Paleobiogeographic implications". Geobios. 47 (3): 147–153. doi:10.1016/j.geobios.2014.03.004.

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