![]() ![]() The Madtsoiidae were medium sized to gigantic snakes with a fossil record extending from the mid-Cretaceous to the Pleistocene, and spanning Europe, Africa, Madagascar, South America and Australia. Osteology, palaeoclimatic data and the palaeobiogeographic distribution of these two snakes are all consistent with these inferred ecological differences. ![]() While the digital endocast of the inner ear of Wonambi is too incomplete to be included in a geometric morphometrics study, its preserved morphology is very different from that of Yurlunggur and suggests a more generalist ecology. Other cranial and postcranial features of this snake support the semifossorial interpretation. The inner ear of Yurlunggur most closely resembles both that of certain semiaquatic snakes and that of some semifossorial snakes. A digital endocast of the inner ear of Yurlunggur was compared to those of 81 species of snakes and lizards with known ecological preferences using three-dimensional geometric morphometrics. ![]() A better understanding of the anatomy and palaeoecology of these taxa may shed light on the evolution and extinction of this poorly known group of snakes and on early snake evolution in general. Yurlunggur and Wonambi are two of these late forms, and also the best-known madtsoiids to date. Most representatives went extinct by the end of the Eocene, but some survived in Australia until the Late Cenozoic. Madtsoiids are among the most basal snakes, with a fossil record dating back to the Upper Cretaceous (Cenomanian). ![]()
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