Ten isolated snake vertebrae from Landana and Sassa-Zao, Cabinda Exclave, Angola, present a “primitive” grade morphology with a weak lateral compression and do not belong to Palaeophis aff. typhaeus as originally referred to. They well belong to a single taxon and are here attributed to Palaeophis africanus for which the intracolumnar variation is described and illustrated. This species is Lutetian (middle Eocene) in age and originates from a marine coastal environment confirming again the aquatic capabilities of palaeophiid snakes. It represents the third largest species of Palaeophis with P. colossaeus and P. maghrebianus to which it is closely related in our tentative phylogenetic analysis, indicating that these three taxa could belong to an African clade. This study also contributes to the debate on the existence of primitive and advanced grades among palaeophiid snakes. Palaeophis presents laterally compressed anterior trunk vertebrae that could have been often erroneously considered as representing advanced grade species and potential parataxonomy.

来自安哥拉 Cabinda Exclave 的 Landana 和 Sassa-Zao 的十个孤立的蛇椎骨呈现出“原始”级形态，侧向压缩较弱，不属于Palaeophis aff。typhaeus最初提到的。它们很好地属于一个单一的分类群，在这里归于非洲古猿，其柱内变异被描述和说明。该物种年龄为卢特田（中始新世），起源于海洋沿海环境，再次证实了古蛇类的水生能力。它代表的第三大品种Palaeophis与P. colossaeus和P. maghrebianus在我们的初步系统发育分析中与它密切相关，表明这三个分类群可能属于非洲进化枝。这项研究也有助于关于古蛇类中是否存在原始和高级等级的争论。Palaeophis呈现侧向压缩的前躯干椎骨，这可能经常被错误地认为代表高级物种和潜在的副分类学。