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

Reconciling the stratigraphy and depositional history of the Lycian orogen-top basins, SW Anatolia

Terrestrial fossil records from the SWAnatolian basins are crucial both for regional correlations and palaeoenvironmental reconstructions. By reassessing biostratigraphic constraints and incorporating new fossil data, we calibrated and reconstructed the late Neogene andQuaternary palaeoenvironments within a regional palaeogeographical framework. The culmination of the Taurides inSWAnatolia was followed by a regional crustal extension from the late Tortonian onwards that created a broad array of NE-trending orogen-top basins with synchronic associations of alluvial fan, fluvial and lacustrine deposits. The terrestrial basins are superimposed on the upper Burdigalian marine units with a c. 7 myr of hiatus that corresponds to a shift from regional shortening to extension. The initial infill of these basins is documented by a transition from marginal alluvial fans and axial fluvial systems into central shallow-perennial lakes coinciding with a climatic shift from warm/humid to arid conditions. The basal alluvial fan deposits abound in fossil macro-mammals of an early Turolian (MN11–12; late Tortonian) age. The Pliocene epoch in the region was punctuated by subhumid/humid conditions resulting in a rise of local base levels and expansion of lakes as evidenced by marsh-swamp deposits containing diverse fossilmammal assemblages indicating late Ruscinian (lateMN15; late Zanclean) ageWe are grateful for the support of the international bilateral project between The Scientific and Technological Research Council of Turkey (TUBITAK) and The Russian Scientific Foundation (RFBR) with grant a number of 111Y192. M.C.A. is grateful to the Turkish Academy of Sciences (TUBA) for a GEBIP (Young Scientist Award) grant. T.K. and S.M. are grateful to the Ege University Scientific Research Center for the TTM/002/2016 and TTM/001/2016 projects. M.C.A., H.A., S.M. and M.B. have obtained Martin and Temmick Fellowships at Naturalis Biodiversity Center (Leiden). F.A.D. is supported by a Mehmet Akif Ersoy University Scientific Research Grant. T.A.N. is supported by an Alexander-von-Humboldt Scholarship. L.H.O. received support from TUBITAK under the 2221 program for visiting scientists

The Hazard Exposure of the Maltese Islands

International comparisons of disaster risk frequently classify Malta as being one of the least hazard exposed countries. Such rankings may be criticised because: (1) they fail to take into account historic increases in population and its seasonal variation; (2) they are based on inadequately researched and incomplete historical catalogues of damaging events and (3), for small island states like Malta, they do not take into account the implications of restricted land area, which can be disproportionately impacted by even small hazardous events. In this paper, we draw upon a variety of data to discuss disaster risk in the Maltese Islands. In particular, the notion that Malta is one of the ‘safest places on earth’ is not only misleading, but also potentially dangerous because it engenders a false sense of security amongst the population. We argue that Malta is exposed to a variety of extreme events, that include: the distal effects of major earthquakes originating in southern Italy and Greece, plus their associated tsunamis; major ash producing eruptions of Mount Etna (Sicily), and their putative impacts on air transport; storm waves; coastal/inland landslides; karstic collapse; flooding and drought. In criticising international rankings of the islands’ exposure, we highlight the issues involved in formulating hazard assessments, in particular incomplete catalogues of extreme natural events. With Malta witnessing swelling resident, seasonal (i.e. tourist) plus foreign-born populations, and increases in the urban area, further research into hazards is required in order to develop evidence-based policies of disaster risk reduction (DRR)