Wonambi
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Skeleton of Wonambi naracoortensis & Thylacoleo
Wonambi is an extinct snake species that had their distribution in Australia. The name " Wonambi " comes from an Aboriginal language and means " rainbow serpent ".
Species
There are known two types:
- Wonambi naracoortensis Smith 1976
- Wonambi barriei Scanlon et Lee 2000
Features
The first fossil record of Wonambi naracoortensis come from Naracoorte. It was bone of a five -meter-long specimen. Particularly characteristic was the skull, which still had an original form. In contrast to the skull snake species living today, the upper jaw was still adherent to the skull. This allowed the serpent in relation to body size not the same large prey to devour, as nowadays similarly large snakes can that decouple the upper and lower jaw when swallowing the victim completely.
Way of life
Wonambi was a constrictor snake without fangs. She killed their prey by wrapping itself around the prey and so pulled the trigger the air supply until the victim died. Because the skull of the snake was very small, the preferred prey were most likely small to medium-sized mammals.
Relationship
Wonambi is possibly related to fossil snakes from South America and Africa and has been filed with them in the family of Madtsoiidae. The common origin of these species is on the continent of Gondwana, with most species are already extinct 55 million years ago.