A review of the fossil record of old world turtles of the clade pan-trionychidae

Turtles of the clade Pan-Trionychidae have a rich fossil record in the Old World, ranging from the Early Cretaceous (Hauterivian) to the Holocene. The clade most probably originated in Asia during the Early Cretaceous but spread from there to the Americas and Europe by the Late Cretaceous, to India and Australia by the Eocene, and to Afro-Arabia by the Neogene. The presence of a single pan-cyclanorbine in the Late Cretaceous (Maastrichtian) of Asia provides a minimum estimate for the age of the trionychid crown. As preserved, diversity was relatively high in Asia during the Late Cretaceous, but the subsequent, strong decline is likely a preservational bias, as extant faunas are relatively rich, especially throughout Asia. The range of trionychids contracted southward in Europe over the course of the Neogene, and the group is now locally extirpated. The group is now similarly absent from Arabia and Australia. A taxonomic review of the 180 named Old World taxa finds 42 nomina valida, 38 nomina invalida, 88 nomina dubia, 11 nomina nuda, and 1 nomen suppressum

New material of Laophis crotaloides, an enigmatic giant snake from Greece, with an overview of the largest fossil European vipers

Laophis crotaloides was described by Richard Owen as a new and very large fossil viperid snake species from Greece. The type material is apparently lost and the taxon was mostly neglected for more than a century. We here describe a new partial viperid vertebra, collected from the same locality and of equivalent size to the type material. This vertebra indicates that at least one of the three morphological characters that could be used to diagnose L. crotaloides is probably an artifact of the lithographer who prepared the illustration supporting the original description. A revised diagnosis of L. crotaloides is provided on the basis of the new specimen. Despite the fragmentary nature of the new vertebra, it confirms the validity of L. crotaloides, although its exact relationships within Viperidae remain unknown. The new find supports the presence of a large viperid snake in the early Pliocene of northern Greece, adding further data to the diversity of giant vipers from Europe

First description of a fossil chamaeleonid from Greece and its relevance for the European biogeographic history of the group

The fossil record of Chamaeleonidae is very scarce and any new specimen is therefore considered important for our understanding of the evolutionary and biogeographic history of the group. New specimens from the early Miocene of Aliveri (Evia Island), Greece constitute the only fossils of these lizards from southeastern Europe. Skull roofing material is tentatively attributed to the Czech species Chamaeleo cf. andrusovi, revealing a range extension for this taxon, whereas tooth-bearing elements are described as indeterminate chamaeleonids. The Aliveri fossils rank well among the oldest known reptiles from Greece, provide evidence for the dispersal routes of chameleons out of Africa towards the European continent and, additionally, imply strong affinities with coeval chamaeleonids from Central Europe

The last European varanid: demise and extinction of monitor lizards (Squamata, Varanidae) from Europe

Remains of a varanid lizard from the middle Pleistocene of the Tourkobounia 5 locality near Athens, Greece are described. The new material comprises cranial elements only (one maxilla, one dentary, and one tooth) and is attributed to Varanus, the genus to which all European Neogene varanid occurrences have been assigned. Previously, the youngest undisputed varanid from Europe had been recovered from upper Pliocene sediments. The new Greek fossils therefore constitute the youngest records of this clade from the continent. Despite being fragmentary, this new material enhances our understanding of the cranial anatomy of the last European monitor lizards and is clearly not referable to the extant Varanus griseus or Varanus niloticus, the only species that could be taken into consideration on a present-day geographic basis. However, these fossils could represent a survivor of the monitor lizards of Asian origin that inhabited Europe during the Neogene