Variations in morphology of the superficial palate of henophidian snakes and some possible systematic implications

Evolutionary Biology

“…Separation of olfactory tracts by anterior medial pillars of frontal bones (Underwood, 1967;Groombridge, 1979d;Rieppel, 1979d). 18.…”

“…18. Presence of a laterosphenoid bone separating the maxillary from the mandibular branch of the trigeminal nerve (Underwood, 1967;Rieppel, 1976Rieppel, , 1979dGroombridge, 1979d). 19.…”

“…19. Toothed anterior process on the palatine bone (Underwood, 1977;Estes et al, 1970;Groombridge, 1979d). 20.…”

“…Supratemporal forming a free-ending posterior process (Muller, 1831;Underwood, 1976;Groombridge, 1979d). 24.…”

“…4). However, Underwood (1967) provided compelling evidence that the position of the optic foramen within the frontal bone is secondary for uropeltids, while Dowling's (1974) hypothesis is contradicted by the similarities shared by uropeltids with the genus Cylindrophis; McDowell (1975), H. M. Smith et al (1977), and Groombridge (1979d) even classified Cylindrophis together with Anomochilus as a separate subfamily, the Cylindrophinae, within the Uropeltidae. The most important feature supporting this argument is the similar differentiation of the occipitovertebral joint in Cylindrophis maculatus and uropeltids (Williams, 1959), although it should be borne in mind that differences of structure were also recorded for the two groups (Williams, 1959, p. 7;Rieppel, 197ge).…”