Smacdonald / Wikimedia
The backbone of Paradoxophidion is surprisingly similar to that of snakes of the genus Acrochordus
The new species has only been identified now, but its fossil had already been removed from the famous Hordle Cliff site more than 40 years ago.
A fossil discovered more than four decades ago on the south coast of England has been formally identified as a new species of ancient snake.
The species, called Paradoxophidion richardoweni, is described in a publication in the magazine Comptes Rendus Palevol and may represent one of the oldest branches of the cenophid family tree, a lineage that includes most living snakes.
The fossilized vertebrae were first unearthed in 1981 at Hordle Cliff, an archaeological site known for its rich Eocene fossil record. Only now have scientists confirmed that the bones belonged to a species previously unknown to science, says .
Lead author Georgios Georgalis of the Polish Academy of Sciences states that the identification of the specimen “was the realization of a dream”, especially due to its historical connection with Sir Richard Owen, after whom the species is named.
Paradoxophidion lived about 37 million years agoduring a much warmer phase in Earth’s history. England’s climate at the time was warmer, wetter and the location was a little closer to the equator.
To study the vertebrae in detail, Georgalis and co-author Marc Jones of the Natural History Museum used CT scanning to create 3D digital models, allowing researchers around the world to examine the fossils. In total, there were 31 vertebrae identified from different parts of the snake’s spinal column, exhibiting a peculiar mixture of anatomical features. These unusual characteristics inspired the genus name Paradoxophidion, which means “paradoxical snake”.
Fossils suggest that the animal had less than one meter longalthough, details about its diet and behavior remain unknown due to the absence of its skull. Remarkably, the vertebrae closely resemble those of acrocordid snakes, a small and ancient group of aquatic species now known from Southeast Asia and northern Australia. If Paradoxophidion is indeed a primitive acrocordid, it could represent the oldest known member of that lineage. However, investigators warn that the evidence is not yet conclusive.
