The Origin and Early Evolutionary History of Snakes

Table of Contents

• 1. Introduction Hussam Zaher and David J. Gower
• Part I. The Squamate and Snake Fossil Record:
• 2. The origin and early diversification of squamates Susan E. Evans
• 3. The first 80 million years of snake evolution: the Mesozoic fossil record of snakes and its implications for origin hypotheses, biogeography, and mass extinction Jason J. Head, Alexandra F. C. Howard and J Johannes Müller
• 4. The diversity and distribution of Palaeogene snakes: a review, with comments on vertebral sufficiency Krister T. Smith and Georgios L. Georgalis
• 5. Miocene snakes of Eurasia: A review of the evolution of snake communities Martin Ivanov
• Part II. Palaeontology and the Marine-Origin Hypothesis:
• 6. Sea-serpentism Olivier Rieppel
• 7. Reassessing the morphological foundations of the Pythonomorph Hypothesis Michael J. Polcyn, Bruno G. Augusta and Hussam Zaher
• 8. A review of non mosasaurid (dolichosaur and aigialosaur) mosasaurians and their relationships to snakes Bruno G. Augusta, Hussam Zaher, Michael J. Polcyn, Anthony R. Fiorillo and Louis L. Jacobs
• 9. A review of the skull anatomy and phylogenetic affinities of marine pachyophiid snakes Hussam Zaher, Bruno G. Augusta, Rivka Rabinovich, Michael J. Polcyn and Paul Tafforeau
• Part III. Genomic Perspectives:
• 10. Using comparative genomics to resolve the origin and early evolution of snakes Sara Ruane and Jeffrey W. Streicher
• 11. The evolution of squamate chitinase genes (CHIAs) supports an early insectivory–carnivory transition during the origin of snakes Christopher A. Emerling
• 12. Origin and early diversification of the enigmatic squamate venom cocktail Vivek Suranse, Ashwin Iyer, Timothy N. W. Jackson and Kartik Sunagar
• Part IV. Neurobiological Perspectives:
• 13. Using adaptive traits in the inner ear to estimate ecology of early snakes Hongyu Yi
• 14. A glimpse into the evolution of the ophidian brain Agustín Scanferla
• 15. Eyes, vision and the origins and early evolution of snakes David J. Gower, Einat Hauzman, Bruno F. Simões and Ryan K. Schott
• Part V. Anatomical and Functional Morphological Perspectives:
• 16. Diversity and evolution of the squamate hemipenis: An overview with particular reference to the origin and early history of snakes Giovanna G  Montingelli, David J. Gower and Hussam Zaher
• 17. The evolution of sperm-storage location in Squamata, with particular reference to snakes Henrique B. Braz and Selma M. Almeida-Santos
• 18. An overview of the morphology of oral glands in snakes Leonardo de Oliveira and Hussam Zaher
• 19. Macrostomy macrophagy and snake phylogeny David Cundall and Frances Irish
• Index.
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