Sanajeh
Name: Sanajeh
(Ancient gape).
Phonetic: San-aj-eh.
Named By: Jeffrey A. Wilson, Dhananjay M.
Mohabey, Shanan E. Peters & Jason J. Head - 2010.
Classification: Chordata, Reptilia, Squamata,
Serpentes, Madtsoiidae.
Species: S. indicus (type).
Diet: Carnivore.
Size: Skull, 9.5 centimetres long, total
length 3.5 meters long.
Known locations: India, Gujurat - Lameta
Formation.
Time period: Maastrichtian of the Cretaceous.
Fossil representation: Almost complete skull, jaws
and 72 vertebrae, in a total of five articulated sections.
A
late Cretaceous era snake
of the Indian subcontinent, the discovery
of Sanajeh has revealed a little bit more about
Mesozoic ecosystems.
The holotype specimen of Sanajeh was found not
only alongside several
sauropod eggs, but also the remains of a hatchling sauropod,
probably a titanosaur of about fifty centimetres length. It is
believed that the individual Sanajeh was raiding a
nest of eggs to try
and take a hatchling dinosaur, something that would have been a
relatively easy meal for a large three and half meters long snake.
Like
many other primitive snakes however as well as some of its relatives
(such as Wonambi
which lived much later), Sanajeh
did not have a
very wide gape like modern varieties such as pythons and boas do.
This is probably why Sanajeh was raiding the
nest, not just because
the hatchling was virtually helpless, but because it was of a size
that could pass through its mouth. The fast growth of sauropods
documented in other finds however, indicates that hatchlings were
likely only in danger for the first few months of their lives, and
would soon grow to a size that even a large snake like Sanajeh
could
not attempt to eat.
Possible
candidates for the laying of the eggs include Titanosaurus,
Jainosaurus
and Isisaurus,
all titanosaurs
known from the Lameta
Formation, though a so far unknown genus may have still laid them.
There is also no reason to assume that Sanajeh
only raided
sauropod/titanosaur nests, as it could have also targeted other kinds
of dinosaurs such as theropods like the abelisaurid
Rajasaurus
amongst
others. It is also quite possible that Sanajeh
hunted for small
animals such as lizards or even primitive mammals, though this is so
far only speculation.
Another genus of madtsoiid snake that was named in 2010 is Menarana, a Madagascan relative of Sanejah that might have burrowed into the ground.
Further reading
- Predation upon Hatchling Dinosaurs by a New Snake from the Late
Cretaceous of India, Jeffrey A. Wilson, Dhananjay M. Mohabey,
Shanan E. Peters & Jason J. Head - 2010.
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