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Fossil Friday: Large Constrictor Snake from the Eocene

Günter Bechly
Photo credit: Günter Bechly.

I took this photo in June 2009. It is a large constrictor snake, Palaeopython fischeri, from the Eocene locality of Messel in Germany. It is about 47 million years old. The fossils from this locality have to be transferred (re-embedded) into artificial resin to be preserved. This specimen is from the Hessisches Landesmuseum Darmstadt (HLMD Me-15426).

Günter Bechly

Senior Fellow, Center for Science and Culture
Günter Bechly is a German paleo-entomologist who specializes in the fossil history and systematics of insects (esp. dragonflies), the most diverse group of animals. He served as curator for amber and fossil insects in the department of paleontology at the State Museum of Natural History (SMNS) in Stuttgart, Germany. He is also a Senior Fellow with Discovery Institute’s Center for Science and Culture. Dr. Bechly earned his Ph.D. in geosciences from Eberhard-Karls-University in Tübingen, Germany.

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artificial resinconstrictor snakeEocene EpochFossil Fridayfossil recordfossilsGermanyHessisches Landesmuseum DarmstadtMesselPalaeopython fischeri