Wonambi naracoortensis Smith, 1976:41
Naracoorte primitive snake (proposed)
Taxonomy & Nomenclature
Conservation Status
Extinct
Last record: >50,000 years ago
Distribution
Australia
Biology & Ecology
This species is only known from fossil remains which indicate that a fully grown adult male would have been 5-6m long, comparable to the size of Australia's largest living snake, the scrub or amethyst python (Morelia amethistina).
Hypodigm
Holotype: SAM P16168
For an extensive list of other material assigned to this species, see (Scalon, 2005).
Media
For an illustration of this species constricting a wallaby, see Peter Schouten's website: http://www.studioschouten.com.au/viewdetail.asp?ID=107
References
Original scientific description:
Smith, Meredith J. (1976). Small fossil vertebrates from Victoria Cave, Naracoorte, South Australia. IV. Reptiles. Transactions of the Royal Society of South Australia 100(1): 39-51.
Other references:
Barrie, John D. (1990). Skull elements and additional remains the Pleistocene boid snake, Wonambi naracoortensis. Proceedings of the De Vis Symposium. Memoirs of the Queensland Museum 28(1): 139-151.
Barrie, John D. (1997). Climatic indicators within Henschke fossil cave system, Naracoorte, South Australia. Quaternary Australasia 15(2): 45-57.
Fraser, R. A. and Wells, R. T. (2006). Palaeontological excavation and taphonomic investigation of the Pleistocene fossil deposit in Grant Hall, Victoria Fossil Cave, Naracoorte, South Australia. Alcheringa 30(S1): 147-161.
Holmes, Branden. (2021). What's Lost and What Remains: The Sixth Extinction in 100 Accounts (eBook). Self published.
Macken, A. C. et al. (2011). Application of sedimentary and chronological analyses to refine the depositional context of a Late Pleistocene vertebrate deposit, Naracoorte, South Australia. Quat. Sci. Rev. 30(19-20): 2690-2702.
McNamara, G. C. (1990). The Wyandotte Local Fauna: A new, dated, Pleistocene vertebrate fauna from Queensland. Memoirs of the Queensland Museum (Proceedings of the De Vis symposium) 28(1): 285-297.
Merrilees, D. (1979). The prehistoric environment in Western Australia. Journal of the Royal Society of Western Australia 62(3 or 4): 109-128.
Murray, P. F. (1991). The Pleistocene megafauna of Australia, pp. 1071-1164. In: Vickers-Rich, P., Monaghan, J. M., Baird, R. F., and Rich, T. H. Vertebrate Palaeontology of Australiasia. Lilydale, Victoria: Pioneer Design Studio.
Palci, Alessandro, Caldwell, Michael W. and Scanlon, John D. (2014). First report of a pelvic girdle in the fossil snake Wonambi naracoortensis Smith, 1976, and a revised diagnosis for the genus. Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology 34(4): 965-969.
Palci, Alessandro, Hutchinson, Mark N., Caldwell, Michael W., Scanlon, John D. and Lee, Michael S. Y. (2018). Palaeoecological inferences for the fossil Australian snakes Yurlunggur and Wonambi (Serpentes, Madtsoiidae). R. Soc. open sci. 5: 172012.
Reed, Elizabeth H. and Bourne, Steven J. (2000). Pleistocene fossil vertebrate sites of the south east region of South Australia. Transactions of the Royal Society of South Australia 124(2): 61-90.
Reed, Elizabeth H. and Bourne, Steven J. (2009). Pleistocene Fossil Vertebrate Sites of the South East Region of South Australia II. Transactions of the Royal Society of South Australia 133(1): 30-40.
Olivier Rieppel, Arnold G. Kluge and Hussam Zaher. (2002). Testing the phylogenetic relationships of the Pleistocene snake Wonambi naracoortensis Smith. Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology 22(4): 812-829.
Roberts, Richard G, Flannery, Timothy F., Ayliffe, Linda, Yoshida, Hiroyuki, Olley, Jon M., Prideaux, Gavin J., Laslett, Geoff M., Baynes, Alexander, Smith, M. A., Jones, Rhys I. and Smith, Barton L. (2001). New ages for the last Australian megafauna: Continent-wide extinction about 46,000 years ago. Science 292(5523): 1888-1892. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.1060264
Scanlon, John D. (1992). A new large madtsoiid snake from the Miocene of the Northern Territory. The Beagle 9: 49-60.
Scanlon, John D. (1995). First records from Wellington Caves, New South Wales, of the extinct madtsoiid snake Wonambi naracoortensis Smith, 1976. Proceedings of the Linnean Society of NSW 115: 233-238.
Scanlon, John D. (2003). The basicranial morphology of madtsoiid snakes (Squamata, Ophidia) and the earliest Alethinophidia (Serpentes). Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology 23(4): 971–976.
Scanlon, John D. (2005). Cranial morphology of the Plio-Pleistocene giant madtsoiid snake Wonambi naracoortensis. Acta Palaeontologica Polonica 50(1):139-180.
Scanlon, John D. and Lee, M. Y. (2000). The Pleistocene serpent Wonambi and the early evolution of snakes. Nature 403: 416-20.
Smith, M. J. (1983). A giant python from southern Australia, Wonambi naracoortensis. In: S. Quirk and M. Archer (eds.), Prehistoric Animals of Australia, pp. 40. Australian Museum, Sydney.
Smith, M. J. (1985). Wonambi naracoortensis Smith, 1976: The Giant Australian Python, pp. 156-159. In: Vickers-Rich, Patricia and van Tets, Gerard Frederick. (eds.). Kadimakara: Extinct Vertebrates of Australia. Lilydale, Victoria: Pioneer Design Studio. 284 pp.
Wells, Rod T., Moriarty, K. and Williams, D. L. G. (1984). The fossil vertebrate deposits of Victoria Fossil Cave Naracoorte: an introduction to the geology and fauna. The Australian Zoologist 21(4): 305-333.
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