dc.contributor.author |
Head, Jason J. |
en |
dc.contributor.author |
Bloch, Jonathan I. |
en |
dc.contributor.author |
Hastings, Alexander K. |
en |
dc.contributor.author |
Bourque, Jason R. |
en |
dc.contributor.author |
Cadena, Edwin A. |
en |
dc.contributor.author |
Herrera, Fabiany A. |
en |
dc.contributor.author |
Polly, P. David |
en |
dc.contributor.author |
Jaramillo, Carlos A. |
en |
dc.date.accessioned |
2011-04-21T16:39:14Z |
|
dc.date.available |
2011-04-21T16:39:14Z |
|
dc.date.issued |
2009 |
|
dc.identifier.citation |
Head, Jason J., Bloch, Jonathan I., Hastings, Alexander K., Bourque, Jason R., Cadena, Edwin A., Herrera, Fabiany A., Polly, P. David, and Jaramillo, Carlos A. 2009. "<a href="https://repository.si.edu/handle/10088/15900">Giant boid snake from the Palaeocene neotropics reveals hotter past equatorial temperatures</a>." <em>Nature</em>. 457 (7230):715–717. <a href="https://doi.org/10.1038/nature07671">https://doi.org/10.1038/nature07671</a> |
en |
dc.identifier.issn |
0028-0836 |
|
dc.identifier.uri |
http://hdl.handle.net/10088/15900 |
|
dc.description.abstract |
The largest extant snakes live in the tropics of South America and southeast Asia<U><SUP>1, 2, 3</SUP></U> where high temperatures facilitate the evolution of large body sizes among air-breathing animals whose body temperatures are dependant on ambient environmental temperatures (poikilothermy)<U><SUP>4, 5</SUP></U>. Very little is known about ancient tropical terrestrial ecosystems, limiting our understanding of the evolution of giant snakes and their relationship to climate in the past. Here we describe a boid snake from the oldest known neotropical rainforest fauna from the Cerrejón Formation (58–60 Myr ago) in northeastern Colombia. We estimate a body length of 13 m and a mass of 1,135 kg, making it the largest known snake<U><SUP>6, 7, 8, 9</SUP></U>. The maximum size of poikilothermic animals at a given temperature is limited by metabolic rate<U><SUP>4</SUP></U>, and a snake of this size would require a minimum mean annual temperature of 30–34 °C to survive. This estimate is consistent with hypotheses of hot Palaeocene neotropics with high concentrations of atmospheric CO<SUB>2</SUB> based on climate models<U><SUP>10</SUP></U>. Comparison of palaeotemperature estimates from the equator to those from South American mid-latitudes indicates a relatively steep temperature gradient during the early Palaeogene greenhouse, similar to that of today. Depositional environments and faunal composition of the Cerrejón Formation indicate an anaconda-like ecology for the giant snake, and an earliest Cenozoic origin of neotropical vertebrate faunas. |
en |
dc.relation.ispartof |
Nature |
en |
dc.title |
Giant boid snake from the Palaeocene neotropics reveals hotter past equatorial temperatures |
en |
dc.type |
Journal Article |
en |
dc.identifier.srbnumber |
77671 |
|
dc.identifier.doi |
10.1038/nature07671 |
|
rft.jtitle |
Nature |
|
rft.volume |
457 |
|
rft.issue |
7230 |
|
rft.spage |
715 |
|
rft.epage |
717 |
|
dc.description.SIUnit |
NH-EOL |
en |
dc.description.SIUnit |
Center for Tropical Palaeoecology and Archaeology |
en |
dc.description.SIUnit |
STRI |
en |
dc.citation.spage |
715 |
|
dc.citation.epage |
717 |
|