New finds of the Neogene lizard and snake fauna (Squamata: Lacertilia; Serpentes) from the Slovak Republic

This paper deals with the squamate fauna from three Neogene localities in Slovakia. Neogene lizards and snakes have rarely been reported from this region and many aspects of their evolution and palaeodiversity are still poorly understood. Squamate remains from the Upper Miocene (MN 9) locality of Borsky Svaty Jur belong to at least five different taxa: Lacerta sp., Pseudopus sp., Colubroidea indet. (? Elapidae), Natricinae indet. and Colubridae indet. The ophidian assemblage from Ivanovce (Lower Pliocene; MN 15b) is dominated by colubrids, mainly Zamenis longissimus. The remainder is comprised of the species Natrix natrix. Squamate material from this locality also includes Lacerta cf. agilis, Pseudopus sp. and Ophisaurus sp., while that from Hajnaka (Upper Pliocene; MN 16a) is extremely poor, comprising just one taxon - Natrix natrix. The Ivanovce material represents the oldest proof of the former existence of the species Zamenis longissimus and Natrix natrix in the Slovak Republic. The composition of this snake fauna indicates faunistic and palaeoecological changes at the end of the Miocene, although this was not as rapid as at similar localities in Europe. The squamate fauna of Slovakia has changed very little since the beginning of the Pliocene, and the majority of taxa are represented by species that currently occur in this region.