Vipera latastei ebusitana was a viper subspecies native to Ibiza, Spain that is now extinct.[1] It was a subspecies of the Lataste's viper (Vipera latastei) and was a dwarf taxon resulting from insular evolutionary processes.[2][3] Like all other vipers, it was venomous.
Phylogenetic analysis indicates that the dispersal of the ancestors of V. l. ebusitana to Ibiza, most probably from a north-east Iberian population, occurred via overwater colonization around 1.5 million years ago, well after the Messinian Salinity Crisis of the Late Miocene (5.97–5.333 Mya) when land bridges allowed terrestrial colonization of the Balearic Islands by mainland faunas. The oldest specimens of this subspecies dates to the Middle Pleistocene (774ka-129ka) The complete genome of this species, that helped scientists to identify that it was a new subspecies, is based on a specimen that dates to around 16,130 BC ± 45 years. V. l. ebusitana went extinct around 4000 years ago, shortly after the first humans had arrived to Ibiza.[1]
References
- ^ a b c Enric Torres-Roig; Kieren J. Mitchell; Josep Antoni Alcover; Fernando Martínez-Freiría; Salvador Bailón; Holly Heiniger; Matthew Williams; Alan Cooper; Joan Pons; Pere Bover (2020). "Origin, extinction and ancient DNA of a new fossil insular viper: molecular clues of overseas immigration". Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society. 192: 144–168. doi:10.1093/zoolinnean/zlaa094.
- ^ "Una víbora extinta confirmada como el primer caso de colonización ultramarina de una isla balear por parte de un vertebrado terrestre". October 2, 2020.
- ^ "La víbora enana de Ibiza, el descubrimiento de un paleontólogo local que demuestra la existencia ancestral de serpientes en la isla - Noudiari.es | Noudiari.es". www.noudiari.es. 29 September 2020.
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