Charina Gray, 1849

Szyndlar, Zbigniew & Georgalis, Georgios L., 2023, An illustrated atlas of the vertebral morphology of extant non-caenophidian snakes, with special emphasis on the cloacal and caudal portions of the column, Vertebrate Zoology 73, pp. 717-886 : 717

Charina Gray, 1849

Material examined.

Charina bottae (Blainville, 1835) (MNHN-RA-0730 [part of the skeleton of the holotype]; NHMUK 1969.2948, UMMZ 240637 [Morphosource.org: Media 000068484, ark:/87602/m4/ M68484 ]) .

Description (Figs 109-112).

Trunk vertebrae. Centrum longer than wide or occasionally as wide as long; cotyle and condyle slightly depressed; neural arch depressed; posterior median notch of the neural arch deep; neural spine low; prezygapophyseal accessory processes short to vestigial; hypapophyses disappearing at the level of ca. 50th vertebra; haemal keel broad, weakly developed; paracotylar foramina absent.

Trunk / caudal transition. The last trunk and cloacal vertebrae are provided with a weakly developed haemal keel; no subcentral structures are present in the anteriormost caudal vertebrae. The cloacal vertebrae are abruptly shortened compared to preceding trunk vertebrae and succeeding caudal vertebrae. Paired haemapophyses appear in the 3rd caudal vertebra. Posterior caudal vertebrae, provided with enlarged neural spine and distinct pterapophyses, are fused into a compact structure. A detailed description of the caudal osteology of Charina will be presented elsewhere.

Number of vertebrae. Charina bottae (UMMZ 240637): 256 (212+6+>38) (about 10 posteriormost caudal vertebrae are fused; precise number of caudal vertebrae cannot be estimated); Charina bottae (NHMUK 1969.2948): 241 (200+4+>37) (about 10 posteriormost caudal vertebrae are fused; precise number of caudal vertebrae cannot be estimated); Charina bottae (MNHN-RA 0730 [part of the skeleton of the holotype]): ~34 caudal vertebrae, including a final fusion (number of trunk and cloacal vertebrae unknown).

Data from literature (all for Charina bottae ): 215 trunk and cloacal vertebrae plus 44 caudal vertebrae ( Alexander and Gans 1966); 209 trunk vertebrae plus 38 cloacal and caudal vertebrae ( Holman 1967).