Eoconstrictor

{{Short description|Extinct genus of snakes}}

{{Speciesbox

| fossil_range = Eocene,
{{fossilrange|48|33.9}}

| image = Palaeopython fischeri 56.jpg

| image_caption = Fossil of E. fisheri

| image2 = Palaeophyton cf fischeri.jpg

| image2_caption = Fossil of E. cf. fischeri

| parent_authority = Scanferla & Smith, 2020

| taxon = Eoconstrictor fischeri

| authority = Scanferla & Smith, 2020

| subdivision_ranks = Other species

| subdivision =

• {{extinct}}E. barnesi Palci et al., 2023
• {{extinct}}E. spinifer Georgalis, Rabi & Smith, 2021

| synonyms =

• Palaeopython fischeri Schaal, 2004
• Paleryx spinifer Barnes, 1927

}}

Eoconstrictor is an extinct genus of booid snake, from the Eocene of Germany (Messel Pit). The type species, E. fischeri is known from multiple well-preserved specimens found in the Messel Pit of Germany. It was originally named as Palaeopython fischeri by Stephan Schaal in 2004,S. Schaal. 2004. Palaeopython fischeri n. sp. (Serpentes: Boidae), eine Riesenschlange aus dem Eozän (MP 11) von Messel. CFS Courier Forschungsinstitut Senckenberg 252:35-45 but examination of the genus showed that it represented a distinct lineage; it was renamed as the new genus Eoconstrictor in 2020. Like modern boids, Eoconstrictor possessed pit organs on its upper jaw, which would have given it the ability to sense infrared radiation; however, all known fossils of Eoconstrictor’s stomach contents are of cold-blooded animals, suggesting that its infrared senses were unlikely to have been used for predation.{{cite journal |last1=Scanferla |first1=A. |last2=Smith |first2=K.T. |title=Exquisitely Preserved Fossil Snakes of Messel: Insight into the Evolution, Biogeography, Habitat Preferences and Sensory Ecology of Early Boas |journal=Diversity |year=2020 |volume=12 |issue=3 |page=100 |doi=10.3390/d12030100|doi-access=free |bibcode=2020Diver..12..100S |hdl=11336/145425 |hdl-access=free }} In a subsequent study Georgalis, Rabi & Smith (2021) reinterpreted "Paleryx" spinifer from the Eocene Geiseltal Lagerstätte (Saxony-Anhalt, Germany) as the second species belonging to the genus Eoconstrictor.{{Cite journal|last1=Georgalis |first1=G. L. |last2=Rabi |first2=M. |last3=Smith |first3=K. T. |year=2021 |title=Taxonomic revision of the snakes of the genera Palaeopython and Paleryx (Serpentes, Constrictores) from the Paleogene of Europe |journal=Swiss Journal of Palaeontology |volume=140 |issue=1 |at=18 |doi=10.1186/s13358-021-00224-0 |doi-access=free |bibcode=2021SwJP..140...18G }} Palci et al. (2023) named the third species belonging to this genus, E. barnesi described on the basis of fossils from the Geiseltal Lagerstätte.{{Cite journal |last1=Palci |first1=A. |last2=Onary |first2=S. |last3=Lee |first3=M. S. Y. |last4=Smith |first4=K. T. |last5=Wings |first5=O. |last6=Rabi |first6=M. |last7=Georgalis |first7=G. L. |year=2023 |title=A new booid snake from the Eocene (Lutetian) Konservat-Lagerstätte of Geiseltal, Germany, and a new phylogenetic analysis of Booidea |journal=Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society |volume=202 |issue=2 |doi=10.1093/zoolinnean/zlad179 |doi-access=free }}