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Middle to Late Pleistocene herpetofauna from Scladina and Sous-Saint-Paul caves (Namur, Belgium)

Hugues-Alexandre BLAIN, Juan Manuel LÓPEZ-GARCÍA, Jean-Marie CORDY, Stéphane PIRSON, Grégory ABRAMS, Kévin DI MODICA & Dominique BONJEAN

en Comptes Rendus Palevol 13 (8) - Pages 681-690

Published on 31 December 2014

For the first time, the fossil herpetofauna from the Middle and Late Pleistocene of Scladina and Sous-Saint-Paul caves (Sclayn, Belgium) is described. The amphibians and squamate reptiles are represented by one salamander (Salamandra salamandra), three anurans (Pelodytes punctatus, Bufo bufo and Rana temporaria), two lizards (Lacerta cf. agilis and Anguis fragilis) and two snakes (Zamenis longissimus and Vipera cf. berus). The occurrence of the Parsley Frog (Pelodytes punctatus) and the Aesculapian Snake (Zamenis longissimus), which are not currently represented in Belgium, is of particular interest. Scladina also represents one of the northernmost fossil mentions for the Fire Salamander (Salamandra salamandra) although it is within its current distribution in Europe. Finally, the presence of the Adder (Vipera cf. berus) is very probably attested in Scladina whereas today this snake is infrequent and classified as endangered in Belgium.


Keywords:

Amphibians, Reptiles, Palaeontology, Palaeobiogeography, Middle to Late Pleistocene, Belgium, Northwestern Europe

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