Eoconstrictor is an extinct genus of booid snake, which supposedly had infrared vision, from the Eocene of Germany (Messel Pit). The type species, E. fischeri is known from multiple well-preserved specimens found in the Messel Pit of Germany. It was originally named as Palaeopython fischeri by Stephan Schaal in 2004,[1] but examination of the genus showed that it represented a distinct lineage; it was renamed as the new genus Eoconstrictor in 2020.[2] In a subsequent study Georgalis, Rabi & Smith (2021) reinterpreted "Paleryx" spinifer from the Eocene Geiseltal Lagerstätte (Saxony-Anhalt, Germany) as the second species belonging to the genus Eoconstrictor.[3] Palci et al. (2023) named the third species belonging to this genus, E. barnesi described on the basis of fossils from the Geiseltal Lagerstätte.[4]
| Eoconstrictor Temporal range: Eocene,
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| Fossil of E. fisheri | |
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| Fossil of E. cf. fischeri | |
Scientific classification 
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| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Reptilia |
| Order: | Squamata |
| Suborder: | Serpentes |
| Genus: | †Eoconstrictor Scanferla & Smith, 2020 |
| Species: | †E. fischeri
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| Binomial name | |
| †Eoconstrictor fischeri Scanferla & Smith, 2020
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| Other species | |
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| Synonyms | |
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References
edit- ^ S. Schaal. 2004. Palaeopython fischeri n. sp. (Serpentes: Boidae), eine Riesenschlange aus dem Eozän (MP 11) von Messel. CFS Courier Forschungsinstitut Senckenberg 252:35-45
- ^ Scanferla, A.; Smith, K.T. (2020). "Exquisitely Preserved Fossil Snakes of Messel: Insight into the Evolution, Biogeography, Habitat Preferences and Sensory Ecology of Early Boas". Diversity. 12 (3): 100. doi:10.3390/d12030100. hdl:11336/145425.
- ^ Georgalis, G. L.; Rabi, M.; Smith, K. T. (2021). "Taxonomic revision of the snakes of the genera Palaeopython and Paleryx (Serpentes, Constrictores) from the Paleogene of Europe". Swiss Journal of Palaeontology. 140 (1). 18. doi:10.1186/s13358-021-00224-0.
- ^ Palci, A.; Onary, S.; Lee, M. S. Y.; Smith, K. T.; Wings, O.; Rabi, M.; Georgalis, G. L. (2023). "A new booid snake from the Eocene (Lutetian) Konservat-Lagerstätte of Geiseltal, Germany, and a new phylogenetic analysis of Booidea". Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society. doi:10.1093/zoolinnean/zlad179.
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