Madatyphlops
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| Madatyphlops | |
|---|---|
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| Madatyphlops arenarius specimen | |
Scientific classification  | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Reptilia |
| Order: | Squamata |
| Suborder: | Serpentes |
| Family: | Typhlopidae |
| Genus: | Madatyphlops Hedges, Marion, Lipp, Marin & Vidal, 2014 |
Madatyphlops is a genus of snakes in the family Typhlopidae.
Madatyphlops may represent a surviving clade of the ancestral Typhlopidae, which are thought to have originated on Madagascar during the Cretaceous, before later dispersing to mainland Africa and then worldwide. This makes it, Xenotyphlops, and the Madagascan big-headed turtle the only Malagasy terrestrial vertebrates whose isolation on Madagascar is due to Gondwanan vicariance.[1]
The 15 species of the genus Madatyphlops are found mostly on Madagascar, but also occur on the Comoro Islands. A fossil species occurred on Mauritius.