# Nidophis

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{{Short description|Extinct genus of snake}}
{{Speciesbox
| fossil_range = {{Geological_age|70.6|66.043|[Maastrichtian](/source/Maastrichtian)}}
| image = Nidophis vertebrae.jpg
| image_caption = ''Nidophis insularis'' vertebrae (scale bar 1 mm)
| genus = Nidophis
| species = insularis
| authority = Vasile ''et al.'', 2013
}}

'''''Nidophis''''' is an extinct [genus](/source/genus) of [madtsoiid](/source/Madtsoiidae) [snake](/source/snake) that inhabited on [Hațeg island](/source/Ha%C8%9Beg_Island) in what is now [Romania](/source/Romania). The [type](/source/type_species) and [only known species](/source/monotypic_taxon) of the genus is '''''N. insularis'''''. The holotype was closely associated with the dinosaur egg nest,<ref name="Venczel-2013">{{CiteQ|Q29997837}}</ref> though it may not have been a nest raider. Instead, the small size of ''Nidophis'' would have allowed it to eat [amphibian](/source/amphibian)s, [lizard](/source/lizard)s, [multituberculate](/source/multituberculate)s or squamate eggs. ''Nidophis'' was probably preyed upon or scavenged by a [theropod](/source/theropod) dinosaur or a [crocodylomorph](/source/crocodylomorph), based on bite marks found on its bones.<ref name="Venczel-2015">{{cite journal|first1=Márton|last1=Venczel|first2=Ştefan|last2=Vasile|first3=Zoltán|last3=Csiki-Sava|year=2015|title=A Late Cretaceous madtsoiid snake from Romania associated with a megaloolithid egg nest – Paleoecological inferences|journal=Cretaceous Research|volume=55|pages=152–163|doi=10.1016/j.cretres.2015.02.009}}</ref>

== Discovery and naming ==
The [holotype](/source/holotype) of ''Nidophis insularis'' is a well-preserved mid-trunk vertebra, with only the [posterolateral](/source/Anatomical_terms_of_location) margins of the left postzygapophysis broken off. The genus name ''Nidophis'' is a [portmanteau](/source/portmanteau) of the [Latin](/source/Latin) word ''nidus'' ("nest"), referring to its discovery associated with a dinosaur nest, and the [Ancient Greek](/source/Ancient_Greek) word ''ὄφις'' (''ophis'', "serpent"). The specific name ''insularis'' is a Latin word alluding to the probable island occurrence of this taxon.<ref name="Venczel-2013" />

== Paleoenvironment ==
The holotype of ''Nidophis insularis'' is found in the uppermost [Cretaceous](/source/Cretaceous) (Maastrichtian) continental deposits of the [Hațeg](/source/Ha%C8%9Beg_Island) Basin, western Romania.<ref name="Venczel-2013" /> Today Haţeg is a landlocked town in Romania, but 70 million years ago during the late Cretaceous it was an island within a shallow sea that covered much of today's southern Europe.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Weishampel |first=D. B. |last2=Jianu |first2=C.-M. |date=1996-07-31 |title=New Theropod Dinosaur Material from the Haţeg Basin (Late Cretaceous, Western Romania) |url=https://doi.org/10.1127/njgpa/200/1996/387 |journal=Neues Jahrbuch für Geologie und Paläontologie - Abhandlungen |volume=200 |issue=3 |pages=387–404 |doi=10.1127/njgpa/200/1996/387 |issn=0077-7749|url-access=subscription }}</ref>

Based upon the study of paleosols (fossilised soils) the climate is thought to have been sub-tropical with distinct wet and dry seasons,<ref>Van Itterbeeck, J., Sasaran, E., Codrea, V., Sasaran, L., and Bultynck, P. 2004. Sedimentology of the Upper Cretaceous mammal- and dinosaur-bearing sites along the Râul Mare and Bãrbat rivers, Haþeg Basin, Romania. ''Cretaceous Research'' 25, 517-530.</ref> carbon isotopes indicate "dry woodland" conditions,<ref>Bojar, A.V., Grigorescu, D., Ottner, F., and Csiki, Z. 2005. Palaeoenvironmental interpretation of dinosaur- and mammal-bearing continental Maastrichtian deposits, Haţeg basin, Romania. ''Geological Quarterly'' 49, 205-222.</ref> and oxygen isotopes suggests a mean annual temperature of about 20-25 °C. Rainfall estimates differ according to whether they are based upon plant fossils or palaeosols. Palaeosols indicate that the climate had seasonal precipitation of less than 1000 mm/year, with greater evapotranspiration than precipitation and a fluctuating water table.<ref>Therrien, F. 2005. Paleoenvironments of the latest Cretaceous (Maastrichtian) dinosaurs of Romania: insights from fluvial deposits and paleosols of the Transylvanian and Haþeg basins. ''Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology'' 218, 15-56.</ref>

== References ==
{{Reflist}}

{{Taxonbar|from=Q21235304}}

Category:Fossil taxa described in 2013
Category:Cretaceous snakes
Category:Late Cretaceous reptiles of Europe
Category:Maastrichtian life
Category:Hațeg fauna

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Nidophis](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nidophis) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nidophis?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.