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Pachyrhachis
 
 
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Pachyrhachis is an extinct genus
Genus

A genus is a low-level taxonomic rank used in the classification of living and fossil organisms. The taxonomic ranks are domain , kingdom , phylum, class , order , family , genus, and species....
 of snake
Snake

Snakes are elongate legless carnivore reptiles of the suborder Serpentes that can be distinguished from legless lizards by their lack of eyelids and external ears....
 with well developed hind legs known from fossils discovered Ein Yabrud
Ein Yabrud

Ein Yabrud is a Palestinian town in the Ramallah and al-Bireh Governorate in the central West Bank. It is located approximately 7 km northeast of the city of Ramallah and its elevation is 800 m....
, near Ramallah
Ramallah

Ramallah is a Palestinian people city in the central West Bank adjacent to al-Bireh with a population nearly 25,500. Ramallah is located 10 kilometers north of Jerusalem and currently serves as the administrative capital of the Palestinian National Authority....
, in the central West Bank
West Bank

The West Bank is the eastern Part of the Palestinian territories on the west bank of the River Jordan in the Middle East. To the west, north, and south the West Bank shares borders with the state of Israel....
. It one of three genera of Cenomanian
Cenomanian

|-|The Cenomanian age is the first or earliest or oldest Geochronological age of the Late Cretaceous epoch . Like all geological time units the Cenomanian age is associated with a Chronostratigraphic stratum or stage of the same name, the "Cenomanian stage" ....
 snakes with hindlimbs. Many of today's modern pythons and boas still have small bone spurs, where limbs would have been millions of years ago. Pachyrhachis snakes would have only been about 1 m (3-4 ft) long.

r known fossil snakes with legs:


et al.






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Encyclopedia


Pachyrhachis is an extinct genus
Genus

A genus is a low-level taxonomic rank used in the classification of living and fossil organisms. The taxonomic ranks are domain , kingdom , phylum, class , order , family , genus, and species....
 of snake
Snake

Snakes are elongate legless carnivore reptiles of the suborder Serpentes that can be distinguished from legless lizards by their lack of eyelids and external ears....
 with well developed hind legs known from fossils discovered Ein Yabrud
Ein Yabrud

Ein Yabrud is a Palestinian town in the Ramallah and al-Bireh Governorate in the central West Bank. It is located approximately 7 km northeast of the city of Ramallah and its elevation is 800 m....
, near Ramallah
Ramallah

Ramallah is a Palestinian people city in the central West Bank adjacent to al-Bireh with a population nearly 25,500. Ramallah is located 10 kilometers north of Jerusalem and currently serves as the administrative capital of the Palestinian National Authority....
, in the central West Bank
West Bank

The West Bank is the eastern Part of the Palestinian territories on the west bank of the River Jordan in the Middle East. To the west, north, and south the West Bank shares borders with the state of Israel....
. It one of three genera of Cenomanian
Cenomanian

|-|The Cenomanian age is the first or earliest or oldest Geochronological age of the Late Cretaceous epoch . Like all geological time units the Cenomanian age is associated with a Chronostratigraphic stratum or stage of the same name, the "Cenomanian stage" ....
 snakes with hindlimbs. Many of today's modern pythons and boas still have small bone spurs, where limbs would have been millions of years ago. Pachyrhachis snakes would have only been about 1 m (3-4 ft) long.

See also

Other known fossil snakes with legs:
  • Eupodophis
    Eupodophis

    Eupodophis is an extinct genus of snake from the Late Cretaceous period. The only species , E. descouensi, had two legs, and is a "Transitional fossil" between Cretaceous lizards and limbless snake....
  • Haasiophis
    Haasiophis

    Haasiophis, consisting of the sole species Haasiophis terrasanctus, is an extinct genus of snakes with hind limbs. It is one of three genera of Cenomanian snakes known to have possesed hindlimbs....


External links



et al. 2003 "The Anatomy and Relationships of Haasiophis terrasanctus, a Fossil Snake with Well-Developed Hind Limbs from the Mid-Cretaceous of the Middle East" Journal of Paleontology 77(3):536-558