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      First Natural Endocranial Cast of a Fossil Snake (Cretaceous of Patagonia, Argentina).

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          Abstract

          In this study, we describe a natural endocranial cast included in a partially preserved medium-sized skull of the Upper Cretaceous South American snake Dinilysia patagonica. The endocast is composed of sedimentary filling of the cranial cavity in which the posterior brain, the vessels, the cranial nerves, and the inner ear surrounded by delicate semicircular canals, are represented. It is simple in form, with little differentiation between the three main areas (Forebrain, Midbrain, and Hindbrain), and without flexures. The nervous system is well preserved. The posterior brain surface is smooth, except for two small prominences that make up the cerebellum. A large inner ear is preserved on the right side; it consists of a voluminous central mass, the vestibule, which occupies most of the space defined by the three semicircular canals. In particular, the lateral semicircular canal is very close to the vestibule. This characteristic, in combination with the medium to large body size of Dinilysia, its large skull and dorsally exposed orbits, and vertebrae bearing a rather high neural spine on a depressed neural arch, suggests that this snake would have had a semifossorial lifestyle. Anat Rec, 2017. © 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Anat Rec, 301:9-20, 2018. © 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

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          Author and article information

          Journal
          Anat Rec (Hoboken)
          Anatomical record (Hoboken, N.J. : 2007)
          Wiley
          1932-8494
          1932-8486
          Jan 2018
          : 301
          : 1
          Affiliations
          [1 ] CONICET, Sección Herpetología, Museo de La Plata, Universidad Nacional de La Plata, Paseo del Bosque s/n, La Plata B1900FWA, Argentina.
          [2 ] CONICET, Departamento de Biología, Universidad Nacional de Mar del Plata, Funes 3250, Mar del Plata B7602AYJ, Argentina.
          [3 ] CONICET, Centro Nacional Patagónico, Instituto Patagónico de Geología y Paleontología, Boulevard Brown 2915, Puerto, Madryn U9120ACD, Argentina.
          Article
          10.1002/ar.23686
          28921909
          a3e23b46-250f-4d67-99fd-4ef947a84f3c
          © 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
          History

          Cretaceous,Dinilysia patagonica,palaeoneurology,snakes
          Cretaceous, Dinilysia patagonica, palaeoneurology, snakes

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