''Micrurus gallicus'' is an extinct

species A species () is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate sexes or mating types can produce fertile offspring, typically by sexual reproduction. It is the basic unit of Taxonomy (biology), ...

coral snake Coral snakes are a large group of elapid snakes that can be divided into two distinct groups, the Old World coral snakes and New World coral snakes. There are 27 species of Old World coral snakes, in three genera ('' Calliophis'', '' Hemibungar ...

that lived in

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

and

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

from 20 to 11.1 million years ago. The remains of this snake consist of some

vertebrae Each vertebra (: vertebrae) is an irregular bone with a complex structure composed of bone and some hyaline cartilage, that make up the vertebral column or spine, of vertebrates. The proportions of the vertebrae differ according to their spinal ...

. The locality in which it was found was an MN 7 + 8 fissure fill in France called La Grive M, dating from the late

Middle Miocene The Middle Miocene is a sub-epoch of the Miocene epoch (geology), epoch made up of two Stage (stratigraphy), stages: the Langhian and Serravallian stages. The Middle Miocene is preceded by the Early Miocene. The sub-epoch lasted from 15.97 ± 0. ...

. Another fossil consisting of a single precaudal vertebra, attributed to ''Micrurus'' cf. ''gallicus'', was found near Griesbeckerzell, a parish village in

Aichach Aichach (; Central Bavarian: ''Oacha'') is a town in Germany, located in the Bundesland of Bavaria and situated just northeast of Augsburg. It is the capital of the district of Aichach-Friedberg. The municipality of Aichach counts some 20,000 i ...

Bavaria Bavaria, officially the Free State of Bavaria, is a States of Germany, state in the southeast of Germany. With an area of , it is the list of German states by area, largest German state by land area, comprising approximately 1/5 of the total l ...

, Germany. It lived with two species in the genus ''

Naja ''Naja'' is a genus of venomous elapid snakes commonly known as cobras (or "true cobras"). Various species occur throughout Africa, Southwest Asia, South Asia, and Southeast Asia. Several other elapid species are often called "cobras", such a ...

'', ''

Naja romani ''Naja romani'' is an extinct species of cobra from the Miocene of Europe. Its remains have been found from France to Russia and suggest a continued growth to larger sizes throughout its range in time. While successful during the early and middle ...

'' and ''

Naja depereti ''Naja'' is a genus of venomous elapid snakes commonly known as cobras (or "true cobras"). Various species occur throughout Africa, Southwest Asia, South Asia, and Southeast Asia. Several other elapid species are often called "cobras", such a ...

''. It also likely lived with snakes of the

genera Genus (; : genera ) is a taxonomic rank above species and below family as used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms as well as viruses. In binomial nomenclature, the genus name forms the first part of the binomial s ...

Mionatrix ''Mionatrix'' is an extinct genus of Colubrid snake that lived during the Miocene. Fossils have been found in Linqu, Shandong province, People's Republic of China. The type species is ''M. diatomus'', the fossils of which are preserved in t ...

'' of the family

Colubridae Colubridae (, commonly known as colubrids , from , 'snake') is a family of snakes. With 249 genera, it is the largest snake family. The earliest fossil species of the family date back to the Late Eocene epoch, with earlier origins suspected. C ...

and ''

Palaeopython ''Palaeopython'' is an extinct genus of snake from the Eocene of Europe. The genus has been used to refer to large Western and Central European snake vertebrae from the Eocene. ''P. cadurcensis'' (the type species, originally named as a species o ...

'' of the family Messelopythonidae.

References

gallicus Aichach-Friedberg Fossil taxa described in 1984 Prehistoric snakes {{Elapidae-stub