Madtsoiidae

Last updated

Contents

Madtsoiidae
Temporal range: Early Cenomanian-Late Pleistocene
~98–0.012  Ma
Madtsoia bai.JPG
Fossil specimen of Madtsoia bai
Scientific classification OOjs UI icon edit-ltr.svg
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Reptilia
Order: Squamata
Clade: Ophidia
Family:† Madtsoiidae
Hoffstetter, 1961
Genera

Madtsoiidae is an extinct family of mostly Gondwanan snakes with a fossil record extending from early Cenomanian (Upper Cretaceous) to late Pleistocene strata located in South America, Africa, India, Australia and Southern Europe. Madtsoiidae include very primitive snakes, which like extant boas and pythons would likely dispatch their prey by constriction. Genera include some of the longest snakes known such as Vasuki , measuring at least 11–12 metres (36–39 ft) long, and the Australian Wonambi and Yurlunggur . [1] As a grouping of basal forms the composition and even the validity of Madtsoiidae is in a state of flux as new pertinent finds are described, with more recent evidence suggesting that it is paraphyletic as previously defined. [2]

Although madtsoiids persisted on Australia until the Pleistocene, they largely went extinct elsewhere during the Eocene. However, some species persisted in South America and India through the Oligocene. [3]

Description

Diagram of the fossil of Sanajeh Sanajeh diagram.jpg
Diagram of the fossil of Sanajeh

Madtsoiidae was first classified as a subfamily of Boidae, Madtsoiinae, in Hoffstetter (1961). Further study and new finds allowed ranking the group as a distinct family in Linnaean systems. With the recent use of cladistics to unravel phylogeny, various analyses have posited Madtsoiidae as a likely clade within Serpentes, or possible paraphyletic stem group outside Serpentes and within a more inclusive Ophidia. Madtsoiid snakes ranged in size from less than 1 metre (3.3 ft) (estimated total length) to over 11 metres (36 ft), and are thought to have been constrictors analogous to modern pythons and boas, but with more primitive jaw structures less highly adapted for swallowing large prey. There are specific anatomical features that diagnose members of this family, such as the presence of hypapophyses only in anterior trunk, that the middle and posterior trunk vertebrae possess a moderately or well-developed haemal keel, except for a few near the cloacal region, often with short laterally paired projections on the posterior part of the keel. Also, all trunk and caudal vertebrae have at least a parazygantral foramen, sometimes several of them, located in a more or less distinct fossa that is lateral to each zygantral facet. Additional features are the prezygapophyseal processes' absence while the paracotylar foramina are present and that the diapophyses are relatively wide, exceeding width across prezygapophyses at least in the posterior trunk vertebrae. [1] (Scanlon 2005)

Like most fossil snakes the majority of madtsoiids are known only from isolated vertebrae, but several (Madtsoia bai, M. camposi, Wonambi naracoortensis, Nanowana spp., unnamed Yurlunggur spp., Najash rionegrina) have associated or articulated parts of skeletons. Of the genera listed below, all have been referred to Madtsoiidae in all recent classifications except Najash rionegrina, which is included here based on diagnostic vertebral characters described by Apesteguía and Zaher (2006). These authors didn't include Najash among madtsoiids because they consider that madtsoiids are a paraphyletic assemblage of basal macrostomatans related to Madtsoia bai and consequently, not related to the Cretaceous alethinophidians from southern continents.

Wonambi naracoortensis and Thylacoleo Wonambi naracoortensis vs Thylacoleo.jpg
Wonambi naracoortensis and Thylacoleo

Rieppel et al. (2002) classified Wonambi naracoortensis within the extant radiation (crown group) of snakes as Macrostomata incertae sedis, but many of their character state attributions for this species have been criticised or refuted by Scanlon (2005) and the better-preserved skulls of Yurlunggur sp./spp. have numerous characters apparently more plesiomorphic than any macrostomatans (Scanlon, 2006). The partial skull attributed to Najash rionegrina (Apesteguía and Zaher 2006) resembles that of the non-madtsoiid Dinilysia patagonica, and vertebrae support that they are related. The type material of Najash is the only possible madtsoiid specimen retaining evidence of pelvic and hindlimb elements, which are claimed to be more plesiomorphic than other Cretaceous limbed snakes, such as Pachyrhachis , Haasiophis or Eupodophis , in retaining a sacro-iliac contact and well-developed limbs, with a huge and well-defined trochanter. The sacro iliac contact is perhaps misleadingly described by Apesteguía and Zaher as unique possession of a sacrum, whereas it has rarely been questioned that the cloacal vertebrae in snakes are homologous to the sacrals of limbed squamates (i.e. the sacrum is present but has lost contact with the reduced ilia in other taxa). It would be unsurprising if other madtsoiids also possessed hindlimbs as complete as those of Najash.

Several madtsoiid genera have been named using indigenous words for legendary Rainbow Serpents or dragons, including Wonambi (Pitjantjatjara), Yurlunggur (Yolngu) and Nanowana (Ancient Greek nano-, 'dwarf' + Warlpiri Wana) in Australia, and Herensugea (Basque) in Europe. G.G. Simpson (1933) apparently started this trend by compounding Madtsoia from indigenous roots. In this particular case these originated from the Tehuelche language, although the reference made was geographic rather than mythological, the derivation being from that language's terms mad, "valley" and tsoi, "cow" as a rough translation from Spanish name of the type locality, Cañadón Vaca.

A 2022 morphological study found Madtsoiidae to be paraphyletic, with Sanajeh being found to be the most basal member of the Ophidia, whereas the Cenozoic Australian madtsoiids were basal alethinophidians. [2]

Classification

Unnamed specimens

Phylogeny

According to a cladistic analysis by Scanlon (2006), Wonambi and Yurlunggur as representative genera of Madtsoiidae form a monophyletic assembly. However, as Madtsoia is not included, its grouping in the same family is questionable.

unnamed

Pachyrhachis †

unnamed

Haasiophis †

unnamed
unnamed
unnamed

Related Research Articles

Yurlunggur is a genus of fossil snake in the extinct family Madtsoiidae containing the species Yurlunggur camfieldensis known from the Oligocene and Miocene of Australia.

<i>Wonambi</i> Extinct genus of snakes

Wonambi is an extinct genus of madtsoiid snakes that lived in late Neogene to late Quaternary Australia. Species of Wonambi were constrictor snakes unrelated to Australian pythons.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bothremydidae</span> Extinct family of turtles

Bothremydidae is an extinct family of side-necked turtles (Pleurodira) known from the Cretaceous and Cenozoic. They are closely related to Podocnemididae, and are amongst the most widely distributed pleurodire groups, with their fossils having been found in Africa, India, the Middle East, Europe, North America and South America. Bothremydids were aquatic turtles with a high morphological diversity, indicative of generalist, molluscivorous, piscivorous and possibly herbivorous grazing diets, with some probably capable of suction feeding. Unlike modern pleurodires, which are exclusively freshwater, bothremydids inhabited freshwater, marine and coastal environments. Their marine habits allowed bothremydids to disperse across oceanic barriers into Europe and North America during the early Late Cretaceous (Cenomanian). The youngest records of the group are indeterminate remains from Saudi Arabia and Oman, dating to the Miocene.

<i>Albanerpeton</i> Extinct genus of amphibians

Albanerpeton is an extinct genus of salamander-like albanerpetontid amphibian found in North America, Europe and Asia first appearing in Cretaceous-aged strata. There are eight described members of the genus, and one undiagnosed species from the Paskapoo Formation, making it by far the most speciose genus in the family. Members of the genus had a robust head and neck which likely allowed them to actively burrow, characteristic of fossorial species, and they lived in a wide range of environments. This genus of amphibian was the last of its order, surviving until into the Early Pleistocene (Gelasian) of northern Italy, and possibly northern Spain, until around 2 million years ago. It likely became extinct when the region developed its present Mediterranean-type climate, having preferred one that was cold and humid. The monophyly of Albanerpeton has recently been questioned, with some authors regarding the genus as paraphyletic.

<i>Madtsoia</i> Extinct genus of snakes

Madtsoia is an extinct genus of madtsoiid snakes. It is known from the Eocene of Argentina, the Paleocene of Brazil, the Late Cretaceous (Maastrichtian) of India, and the Late Cretaceous (Maastrichtian) of Madagascar. The type species was the largest with an estimated length of 9–10 m (30–33 ft), and the other three species were smaller. A 5.1 m (17 ft) long M. madagascariensis would have weighed 50 kg (110 lb), but an isolated specimen suggests that this species reached 8 m (26 ft) in maximum length.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Herpetotheriidae</span> Extinct family of mammals

Herpetotheriidae is an extinct family of metatherians, closely related to marsupials. Species of this family are generally reconstructed as terrestrial, and are considered morphologically similar to modern opossums. Fossils of herpetotheriids come from North America, Asia, Europe, Africa, and perhaps South America. The oldest representative is Maastrichtidelphys from the latest Cretaceous (Maastrichtian) of the Netherlands and the youngest member is Amphiperatherium from the Middle Miocene of Europe. The group has been suggested to be paraphyletic, with an analysis of petrosal anatomy finding that North American Herpetotherium was more closely related to marsupials than the European Peratherium and Amphiperatherium.

<i>Sanajeh</i> Genus of snakes

Sanajeh is a genus of late Cretaceous madtsoiid snake from western India. A fossil described in 2010 from the Lameta Formation was found coiled around an egg and an adjacent skeleton of a 50 cm (19 in) long sauropod dinosaur hatchling. This suggests that the snake preyed on hatchling sauropods at nesting sites.

Menarana is an extinct genus of madtsoiid snake which existed in Madagascar during the Late Cretaceous. The type species is Menarana nosymena. Several vertebrae and rib fragments as well as part of the basicranium have been found from the Maastrichtian-age Maevarano Formation in the Mahajanga Basin.

Colombophis is an extinct genus of snakes of the clade Alethinophidia, a group of "primitive" snakes. The genus was first recognized in the Villavieja Formation in the town of Los Mangos, part of the known fossil fauna of La Venta in the department of Huila (Colombia), in the middle Miocene. With the remains of a fossil snake was erected the species Colombophis portai in 1977, based on forty fragmentary vertebrae. These vertebrae are characterized by a low neural spine, and subdivided paradiapophysis and thin zygosphene. The vertebrae are medium to large, so the snake would measure about 1.77 metres long, similar in size to the current Boa constrictor.

Geolabididae is an extinct family of prehistoric mammals belonging to the order Eulipotyphla.

<i>Coniophis</i> Extinct genus of snakes

Coniophis is an extinct genus of snakes from the late Cretaceous period. The type species, Coniophis precedes, was about 7 cm long and had snake-like teeth and body form, with a skull and a largely lizard-like bone structure. It probably ate small vertebrates. The fossil remains of Coniophis were first discovered at the end of the 19th century in the Lance Formation of the US state of Wyoming, and were described in 1892 by Othniel Charles Marsh. For the genus Coniophis, a number of other species have been described. Their affiliation is, however, poorly secured, mostly based on vertebrae descriptions from only a few fossils.

Laño is a hamlet and concejo in Condado de Treviño within the Treviño enclave; which is administratively part of the Spanish province of Burgos, but which is completely surrounded by the territory of the Basque country province of Álava. It is best known for the fossils of extinct vertebrates dating from around 70 million years before present which have been found there.

Paleontology or palaeontology is the study of prehistoric life forms on Earth through the examination of plant and animal fossils. This includes the study of body fossils, tracks (ichnites), burrows, cast-off parts, fossilised feces (coprolites), palynomorphs and chemical residues. Because humans have encountered fossils for millennia, paleontology has a long history both before and after becoming formalized as a science. This article records significant discoveries and events related to paleontology that occurred or were published in the year 2018.

This list of fossil reptiles described in 2019 is a list of new taxa of fossil reptiles that were described during the year 2019, as well as other significant discoveries and events related to reptile paleontology that occurred in 2019.

Cocatherium is an extinct genus of marsupial mammals of uncertain family placement, from the earliest Paleocene of South America, predating the Tiupampan South American land mammal age. The genus was described based on a fossil molar that was found in the Danian part of the Cretaceous-Paleogene Lefipán Formation in the Cañadón Asfalto Basin in north-central Patagonia, Argentina. The type species of the genus is C. lefipanum.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Itaboraí Formation</span> Geologic formation in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

The Itaboraí Formation is a highly fossiliferous geologic formation and Lagerstätte of the Itaboraí Basin in Rio de Janeiro, southeastern Brazil. The formation reaching a thickness of 100 metres (330 ft) is the defining unit for the Itaboraian South American land mammal age (SALMA), dating to the Early Eocene, approximately 53 to 50 Ma.

This list of fossil reptiles described in 2022 is a list of new taxa of fossil reptiles that were described during the year 2022, as well as other significant discoveries and events related to reptile paleontology that occurred in 2022.

Powellophis is a genus of extinct Madtsoiid snake from the Mealla Formation of Argentina, dating back to the Paleocene. It is a monospecific genus, with the only species being P. andina. The genus name means "Jaime Powell's Snake". The name is constructed from the words Powell and ophis, the first in honor of the scientist who recovered the specimen, the late Dr. Jaime Powell, and the second meaning snake in Greek. The species name andina is named for the Andes region of Northwestern Argentina, where the fossil remains of the animal were discovered.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nigerophiidae</span> Extinct family of reptiles

Nigerophiidae is an extinct family of marine snakes known from the Late Cretaceous to the Paleogene. Species of this family were found throughout much of the former Tethys Ocean. Their taxonomic identity is uncertain due to their fragmentary remains. The earliest nigerophiid is Nubianophis from the Campanian of Sudan.

<i>Vasuki indicus</i> Extinct species of snake

Vasuki is an extinct genus of madtsoiid snake from the Middle Eocene Naredi Formation of India. The genus contains a single species, V. indicus, known from several vertebrae. Vasuki has an estimated body length between 11–15 m (36–49 ft), making it the largest known madtsoiid.

References

  1. 1 2 Datta, Debajit; Bajpai, Sunil (2024-04-18). "Largest known madtsoiid snake from warm Eocene period of India suggests intercontinental Gondwana dispersal". Scientific Reports . 14 (1): 8054. doi:10.1038/s41598-024-58377-0. ISSN   2045-2322.
  2. 1 2 Zaher, Hussam; Mohabey, Dhananjay M; Grazziotin, Felipe G; Wilson Mantilla, Jeffrey A (2022-05-13). "The skull of Sanajeh indicus, a Cretaceous snake with an upper temporal bar, and the origin of ophidian wide-gaped feeding". Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society. 197 (3): 656–697. doi:10.1093/zoolinnean/zlac001. ISSN   0024-4082.
  3. ↑ Wazir, Wasim Abass; Sehgal, Ramesh Kumar; Čerňanský, Andrej; Patnaik, Rajeev; Kumar, Navin; Singh, Abhishek Pratap; Uniyal, Piyush; Singh, Ningthoujam Premjit (2022-04-29). "A find from the Ladakh Himalaya reveals a survival of madtsoiid snakes (Serpentes, Madtsoiidae) in India through the late Oligocene". Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology. 41 (6): e2058401. doi: 10.1080/02724634.2021.2058401 . ISSN   0272-4634. S2CID   248636111.
  4. ↑ Mohabey, D.M.; Head, J.J.; Wilson, J.A. (2011). "A new species of the snake Madtsoia from the Upper Cretaceous of India and its paleobiogeographic implications". Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology. 31 (3): 588–595. doi:10.1080/02724634.2011.560220. S2CID   129792355.
  5. ↑ Wilson, J.A.; Mohabey, D.M.; Peters, S.E.; Head, J.J. (2010). Benton, Michael J. (ed.). "Predation upon Hatchling Dinosaurs by a New Snake from the Late Cretaceous of India". PLOS Biology. 8 (3): e1000322. doi: 10.1371/journal.pbio.1000322 . PMC   2830453 . PMID   20209142.
  6. 1 2 Laduke, T.C., Krause, D.W., Scanlon, J.D. and Kley, N.J. (2010). "A Late Cretaceous (Maastrichtian) snake assemblage from the Maevarano Formation, Mahjanga Basin, Madagascar". Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology. 30 (1): 109–138. doi: 10.1080/02724630903409188 .{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  7. ↑ Wasim Abass Wazir, Ramesh Kumar Sehgal, Andrej Čerňanský, Rajeev Patnaik, Navin Kumar, Abhishek Pratap Singh, Piyush Uniyal & Ningthoujam Premjit Singh (2022): A find from the Ladakh Himalaya reveals a survival of madtsoiid snakes (Serpentes, Madtsoiidae) in India through the late Oligocene, Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology, https://doi.org/10.1080/02724634.2021.2058401

Bibliography and further reading

  • Albino, A.M. 1986. Nuevos Boidae Madtsoiinae en el Cretacico tardio de Patagonia (Formacion Los Alamitos, Rio Negro, Argentina). pp. 15–21 in J.F. Bonaparte (ed.), Simposio Evolucion de los Vertebrados Mesozoicos. Actas IV Congreso Argentino de Paleontología y Bioestratigrafía, Mendoza.
  • Albino, A.M. (1994). "Una nueva serpiente (Reptilia) del Cretácico Superior de Patagonia, Argentina". Pesquisas. 21: 58–63.
  • Andrews, C.W. (1901). "Preliminary note on some recently discovered extinct vertebrates from Egypt (Part II)". Geological Magazine. 8 (10): 434–444. Bibcode:1901GeoM....8..436A. doi:10.1017/s0016756800179750. S2CID   86545487.
  • Andrews, C.W. 1906. A descriptive catalogue of the Tertiary Vertebrata of the Fayum, Egypt. British Museum (Natural History), London.
  • Apesteguía, S.; Zaher, H. (2006). "A Cretaceous terrestrial snake with robust hindlimbs and a sacrum". Nature. 440 (7087): 1037–1040. Bibcode:2006Natur.440.1037A. doi:10.1038/nature04413. PMID   16625194. S2CID   4417196.
  • Astibia, H.; Buffetaut, E.; Buscalioni, A.D.; Cappetta, H.; Corral, C.; Estes, R.; Garcia-Garmilla, F.; Jaeger, J.J.; Jimenez-Fuentes, E.; Loeuff, J. Le; Mazin, J.M.; Orue-Extebarria, X.; Pereda-Suberbiola, J.; Powell, J.E.; Rage, J.-C.; Rodriguez-Lazaro, J.; Sanz, J.L.; Tong, H. (1991). "The fossil vertebrates from Laño (Basque Country, Spain); new evidence on the composition and affinities of the Late Cretaceous continental faunas of Europe". Terra Nova. 2 (5): 460–466. doi:10.1111/j.1365-3121.1990.tb00103.x.
  • de Broin, F.; Buffetaut, E.; Koeniguer, J.C.; Rage, J.-C.; Taquet, P.; Vergnaud-Grazzini, C.; Wenz, S. (1974). "La faune de Vertébrés continentaux du gisement d'In Beceten (Sénonien du Niger)". Comptes Rendus de l'Académie des Sciences de Paris. 279: 469–472.
  • Folie, A.; Codrea, V. (2005). "New lissamphibians and squamates from the Maastrichtian of Hateg Basin, Romania". Acta Palaeontologica Polonica. 50: 57–71.
  • Gomez, R.O. and A.M. Baez. 2006. A new madtsoiid snake (Squamata, Ophidia) from the Upper Cretaceous of Patagonia. XXII Jornadas Argentinas de Paleontología de Vertebrados, San Juan, Argentina (2006): 21.
  • Hoffstetter, R (1960). "Un dentaire de Madtsoia (serpent géant du Paléocene de Patagonia)". Bulletin du Muséum National d'Histoire Naturelle, Paris. 31: 379–386.
  • Hoffstetter, R (1961a). "Nouveaux restes d'un serpent boïdé (Madtsoia madagascariensis nov. sp.) dans le Crétacé supérieur de Madagascar". Bulletin du Muséum National d'Histoire Naturelle, Paris. 33: 152–160.
  • Hoffstetter, R (1961b). "Nouvelles recoltes de serpents fossiles dans l'Eocene superieure de desert libyque". Bulletin du Muséum National d'Histoire Naturelle, Paris. 33: 326–331.
  • Rage, J.-C. (1991). "Squamate reptiles from the early Paleocene of the Tiupampa area (Santa Lucia Formation), Bolivia. pp. 503–508 in R. Suarez-Soruco (ed.), Fosiles y Facies de Bolivia". Revista Tecnica de Yacimentos Petroliferos Fiscales Bolivianos. 12: 503–508.
  • Rage, J.-C. (1996). "Les Madtsoiidae (Reptilia, Serpentes) du Crétacé supérieur d'Europe: témoins gondwaniens d'une dispersion transtéthysienne". Comptes Rendus de l'Académie des Sciences de Paris. 322: 603–608.
  • Rage, J.-C. (1998). "Fossil snakes from the Paleocene of São José de Itaboraí, Brazil. Part I. Madtsoiidae, Aniliidae". Palaeovertebrata. 27 (3–4): 109–144.
  • Rage, J.-C.; Prasad, G.V.R. (1992). "New snakes from the late Cretaceous (Maastrichtian) of Naskal, India". Neues Jahrbuch für Geologie und Paläontologie, Abhandlungen. 187: 83–97.
  • Rage, J.-C.; Werner, C. (1999). "Mid-Cretaceous (Cenomanian) snakes from Wadi Abu Hashim, Sudan: The earliest snake assemblage". Palaeontologia Africana. 35: 85–110.
  • Rieppel, O.; Kluge, A.G.; Zaher, H. (2002). "Testing the phylogenetic relationships of the Pleistocene snake Wonambi naracoortensis Smith". Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology. 22 (4): 812–829. doi:10.1671/0272-4634(2002)022[0812:ttprot]2.0.co;2. S2CID   86020881.
  • Scanlon, J.D. (1992). "A new large madtsoiid snake from the Miocene of the Northern Territory". The Beagle, Records of the Northern Territory Museum of Arts and Sciences. 9: 49–60.
  • Scanlon, J.D. (1993). "Madtsoiid snakes from the Eocene Tingamarra Fauna of eastern Queensland". Kaupia: Darmstädter Beiträge zur Naturgeschichte. 3: 3–8.
  • Scanlon, J.D. (1997). "Nanowana gen. nov., small madtsoiid snakes from the Miocene of Riversleigh: sympatric species with divergently specialised dentition". Memoirs of the Queensland Museum. 41: 393–412.
  • Scanlon, J.D. (2003). "'2003. The basicranial morphology of madtsoiid snakes (Squamata, Ophidia) and the earliest Alethinophidia (Serpentes)". Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology. 23 (4): 971–976. doi:10.1671/24. S2CID   129584280.
  • Scanlon, J.D. (2004). "First known axis vertebra of a madtsoiid snake (Yurlunggur camfieldensis) and remarks on the neck of snakes". The Beagle: Records of the Museums and Art Galleries of the Northern Territory. 20: 207–215. doi: 10.5962/p.286329 . S2CID   128423678.
  • Scanlon, J.D. (2005). "Cranial morphology of the Plio-Pleistocene giant madtsoiid snake Wonambi naracoortensis". Acta Palaeontologica Polonica. 50: 139–180.
  • Scanlon, J.D. (2005). "Australia's oldest known snakes: Patagoniophis, Alamitophis, and cf. Madtsoia (Squamata: Madtsoiidae) from the Eocene of Queensland". Memoirs of the Queensland Museum. 51: 215–235.
  • Scanlon, J.D. (2006). "'2006. Skull of the large non-macrostomatan snake Yurlunggur from the Australian Oligo-Miocene". Nature. 439 (7078): 839–842. doi:10.1038/nature04137. PMID   16482156. S2CID   4415843.
  • Scanlon, J.D.; Lee, M.S.Y. (2000). "The Pleistocene serpent Wonambi and the early evolution of snakes". Nature. 403 (6768): 416–420. Bibcode:2000Natur.403..416S. doi:10.1038/35000188. PMID   10667791. S2CID   4404799.
  • Simpson, G.G. (1933). "A new fossil snake from the Notostylops beds of Patagonia". Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History. 67: 1–22.
  • Simpson, G.G. (1935). "Early and middle Tertiary Geology of the Gaiman region, Chubut, Argentina". American Museum Novitates (775): 1–29.
  • Smith, M.J. (1976). "Small fossil vertebrates from Victoria Cave, Naracoorte, South Australia. IV. Reptiles". Transactions of the Royal Society of South Australia. 100: 39–51.
  • Vasile, Ş.; Csiki-Sava, Z.; Venczel, M. (2013). "A new madtsoiid snake from the Upper Cretaceous of the Haţeg Basin, western Romania". Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology. 33 (5): 1100–1119. doi:10.1080/02724634.2013.764882. S2CID   130202902.
  • Werner, C.; Rage, J.-C. (1994). "Mid-Cretaceous snakes from Sudan. A preliminary report on an unexpectedly diverse snake fauna". Comptes Rendus de l'Académie des Sciences de Paris. 319: 247–252.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.