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Evolution of Snakes and Systematics of the “Big Four” Venomous Snakes of India

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The 'Big Four’ Snakes of India

Abstract

The evolution of snakes from an ancestral burrowing lizard remains disputed because the missing link between snakes and lizards is yet to be recognized. The available fossil record has led to the postulation that the ancestors of snakes made their first appearance during the Cretaceous Period. In recent decades, several studies have shown the mechanism of limb loss in snakes, though the concept is widely debated and the subject of speculation among evolutionary biologists. About 23–65 million years ago during two-thirds of the Tertiary Period, smaller python-like snakes were most prevalent on earth. Phylogenetic studies have indicated that the evolution of snakes involved a steady trend toward greater surface activity, enlargement of the body size, and an enlarged gape. The rear-fanged colubrid snakes evolved 35 to 55 million years ago; however, the origin of the Viperidae and Elapidae from the colubrid snakes is less clear. One group of researchers proposed a common single origin of the Viperidae and the Elapidae from colubrids while another group claimed that the elapids arose from the opisthoglyphous snakes and the viperids were derived from the proteroglyphous colubrids. In this chapter, different theories from evolutionary biologists are examined to explain the origin and evolution of snakes. The “Big Four” venomous snakes of India (N. naja and B. caeruleus of the Elapidae family, and D. russelii and E. carinatus of the Viperidae family) belong to the Infraorder Caenophidia and they all are members of the front-fanged advanced snakes. In addition, the occurrence of different species of the “Big Four” venomous snakes and their geographical distribution in the Indian subcontinent are discussed.

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  1. Life Sciences, Institute of Advanced Study in Science and Technology, Guwahati, Assam, India

    Ashis K. Mukherjee

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Mukherjee, A.K. (2021). Evolution of Snakes and Systematics of the “Big Four” Venomous Snakes of India. In: The 'Big Four’ Snakes of India. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-16-2896-2_2

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