Sneaking past the Grande Coupure: diversity of snakes across the Eocene-Oligocene transition (MP 19 - 22) from Dams (Quercy, southwestern France)

This dataset contains the digitized treatments in Plazi based on the original journal article Lemierre, Alfred, Wilenzik, Ian V., Orliac, Maëva J. (2026): Sneaking past the Grande Coupure: diversity of snakes across the Eocene-Oligocene transition (MP 19 - 22) from Dams (Quercy, southwestern France). Comptes Rendus Palevol 25 (8): 137-154, DOI: 10.5852/cr-palevol2026v25a8, URL: doi.org/10.5852/cr-palevol2026v25a8 ABSTRACT The locality of Dams (Quercy, southwestern France) has yielded two distinct fossil assemblages, one from the late Eocene (MP 19) and a second from the early Oligocene (MP 22); it is one of the few examples of a locality with infillings across the Eocene-Oligocene transition.

A minimum of 21 taxa (13 mammals, six lissamphibians) have been previously identified in Dams. Study of the snake remains from Dams yields two distinct assemblages, with a total of 11 taxa. The Eocene assemblage (five taxa) includes Eoanilius aff. europae, Platyspondylia sudrei Rage, 1988 and three constrictors, i.e., Palaeopython sp., “ Palaeopython ” neglectus Rochebrune, 1884 and an unnamed constrictor.