Colombophis

Remains found in the Brazilian Solimões Formation in the Purus River area (Late Miocene), with vertebrae shorter than wide, thick zygosphene and high neural thorn, were classified as a new species, Colombophis spinosus;^[3] fossil remains found in Venezuela (Urumaco area) and Colombia (La Venta) also seem to belong to this new species rather than C. portai.^[3] Traditionally, Colombophis was taken as a representative of the family primitive Aniliidae, fossorial and primitive snakes that still retained some traces of lizard as Anilius, the false coral. However, retention of primitive traits that identify Colombophis and other members of the superfamily Anilioidea (including features already found in the Cretaceous snake Dinilysia patagonica) indicate that this group is paraphyletic and that for now, Colombophis remains as an Alethinophidia of uncertain classification.^[3] Moreover, their remains indicate that the ecosystems of South America from the mid-Miocene were humid tropical environments as reinforces the finding of other reptile faunas of Urumaco, La Venta and Solimões as Paradracaena and Eunectes stirtoni; Colombophis, like Dinilysia, must be adapted to move and feed in semi-aquatic environments.^[3] Fossils were also found in the Socorro Formation of Venezuela.

• Colombophis in Wikispecies
• Paleobiology Database: Colombophis