Authentic fossilized sea snake (Palaeophis maghrebianus) vertebra, 1.4 cm diameter, 50 million years old, Eocene, Morocco

Description

Palaeophis ("ancient serpent") is an extinct genus of sea snakes. Species in this genus lived from the Cretaceous period to the Eocene epoch, from about 70.6 to about 33.9 million years ago.

These species varied in size. Palaeophis casei is the smallest known, at 1.3 meters long, and Palaeophis colossaeus, known from a single vertebra, is the largest within the estimated size range for this genus. The latter was over 9 meters long and was one of the largest snakes known. However, most species in the genus were not as large. Palaeophis maghrebianus is also a species of Palaeophis discovered in Morocco and North Africa.

Species of Palaeophis were specialized aquatic animals, as their fossils occur mainly in marine strata, but a few remains have also been found in estuaries. Studies on vertebrates of Palaeophis show a high degree of vascularization, suggesting that they had a considerably faster metabolism and growth rate than modern snakes. This may suggest that Palaeophis, like other marine reptiles such as Mosasaurs, may have evolved towards endothermy.