Sentries of the Sea – Sea Snakes along the Indian Coast

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Multiple lineages of snakes evolved independently over time to colonise different marine habitats. Sea snakes are a recent lineage of elapid snakes with terrestrial origins from Australian snakes and diversified largely within the Indo-Pacific Ocean. Phylogenetic studies date sea snake evolution back to 6-8 million years but rapid speciation seems to have occurred 2-3 million years ago in Southeast Asia. Sea snakes are the most speciose (species-rich) group of aquatic snakes, contributing to 85% of the marine reptile fauna. The … Read More