Eryx

Eryx is a genus of nonvenomous snakes, commonly known as Old World sand boas, in the subfamily Erycinae of the family Boidae. Species of the genus are found in southeastern Europe, northern Africa, the Middle East, and southwestern Asia. Thirteen species are recognized as being valid.

Eryx

Guy Haimovitch · CC BY-SA 3.0 · via Wikipedia/Commons. May be a photograph of a specimen, or an artist’s reconstruction — an interpretation of a skeleton, since colour and soft tissue are almost never preserved.

On record

Recorded, not inferred
Also called
true sand boaPBDB
Sits inside
ErycinaePBDB
Diet
carnivorePBDB, for Erycinae
Life habit
fossorial, solitaryPBDB, for Erycinae
Motility
actively mobilePBDB, for Osteichthyes
Environment
terrestrialPBDB, for Erycinae

Time the record covers

At least 16 million years on record.

The record covers at least 16.9 Mya to 129 ka. No occurrence read is dated outside 23.04 Mya to 11.7 ka.

Oligocene — about 0 of 36 occurrencesMiocene — about 25 of 36 occurrencesMiocenePliocene — about 7 of 36 occurrencesPliocenePleistocene — about 4 of 36 occurrencesPleistocene24–23 Mya — about 0.4 occurrences23–22 Mya — about 1 occurrence22–21 Mya — about 1 occurrence21–20 Mya — about 1 occurrence20–20 Mya — about 1 occurrence20–19 Mya — about 2 occurrences19–18 Mya — about 2 occurrences18–17 Mya — about 2 occurrences17–16 Mya — about 2 occurrences16–16 Mya — about 1.0 occurrences16–15 Mya — about 0.2 occurrences15–14 Mya — about 0.2 occurrences14–13 Mya — about 0.2 occurrences13–13 Mya — about 0.2 occurrences13–12 Mya — about 0.2 occurrences12–11 Mya — about 0.6 occurrences11–10 Mya — about 0.6 occurrences10–9.4 Mya — about 0.6 occurrences9.4–8.6 Mya — about 0.8 occurrences8.6–7.8 Mya — about 2 occurrences7.8–7.1 Mya — about 3 occurrences7.1–6.3 Mya — about 2 occurrences6.3–5.5 Mya — about 2 occurrences5.5–4.7 Mya — about 2 occurrences4.7–3.9 Mya — about 3 occurrences3.9–3.1 Mya — about 3 occurrences3.1–2.4 Mya — about 0.8 occurrences785 ka–0 Mya — about 4 occurrences16.9 Mya129 ka23.5 Mya0 Mya

36 occurrences of Eryx on record, most of them in the Miocene. The Paleobiology Database records this as a living group. Bar height is expected occurrences, not a count: each fossil is spread across the span it is dated to, so a tall narrow bar means tight dating and a low wide one means loose.

When

36 occurrences

These are dates about fossils, not the animal: the record can only begin after it arose and end before it died out, so either end may reach further. Shares are expected occurrences: a fossil dated to a span is counted partly in each period it straddles. More on what this infers.

Found in

9 formations

Tudela — 42.06°N, 1.55°WTudela — 42.07°N, 1.61°WLoh — 45.38°N, 101.51°ECórcoles — 40.47°N, 2.68°WAkzhar — 48.02°N, 85.38°Efacies à Congeria — 45.05°N, 7.93°EColombacci — 44.22°N, 11.77°ECapo Mannu dune complex — 40.03°N, 8.40°ELiushu — 35.45°N, 103.63°ESpilia — 41.15°N, 23.48°E

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The named rock units Eryx has been recovered from, largest first. Drawn where the rock is now, not where it formed. 19 occurrences have no formation on record, which is common for older literature.

Eryx and its relatives

Miocene

Where Eryx and its relatives were recorded in the Miocene.

Found in the same rock

508 taxa

The Paleobiology Database records 34 sites for Eryx, and this reads all of them. The number is how many of those sites it was catalogued from too. The 24 sharing the most are listed.

This is not a list of everything alive at the time. It is only what has come out of the same ground as this animal and been written down.

Entered from

21 references

Each of the 36 occurrences read was entered from one of these publications, ordered by how many each accounts for. This is not a search for papers mentioning the name. 9 further references are not listed. Entries link to doi.org where the Paleobiology Database holds an identifier, and to its own record where it does not. Relayed as the Paleobiology Database holds them, not checked against what they resolve to.

Media and terms

Media content2

Picture of Eryx

Credit
Guy Haimovitch
Licence
CC BY-SA 3.0
Commercial use
the licence allows it

CT scan

Licence
In Copyright
Commercial use
cannot be read from the licence given — check the record
Specimen
Eryx colubrinus · FMNH:Amphibians and Reptiles:63117

Smithsonian Open Access was not reached for this taxon, so this list is what the others held rather than everything there is.

The description on this site

Licence
CC BY-SA 4.0

This is what the site found, which is not the same as what exists.

Keep going

What may have been alongside itErycinae through timeFormations of the MioceneThe world it lived on

Occurrence data from the Paleobiology Database, CC BY 4.0. Daudin 1803