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The inner ear morphology of 80 snake and lizard species, representative of a range of ecologies, is here analysed and compared to that of the fossil stem snake  Dinilysia patagonica , using three-dimensional geometric morphometrics. Inner ear morphology is linked to phylogeny (we find here a strong phylogenetic signal in the data that can complicate ecological correlations), but also correlated with ecology, with  Dinilysia  resembling certain semi-fossorial forms ( Xenopeltis  and  Cylindrophis ), consistent with previous reports. We here also find striking resemblances between  Dinilysia  and some semi-aquatic snakes, such as  Myron  (Caenophidia, Homalopsidae). Therefore, the inner ear morphology of  Dinilysia  is consistent with semi-aquatic as well as semi-fossorial habits: the most similar forms are either semi-fossorial burrowers with a strong affinity to water ( Xenopeltis  and  Cylindrophis ) or amphibious, intertidal forms which shelter in burrows ( Myron).  Notably,  Dinilysia  does not cluster as closely with snakes with exclusively terrestrial or obligate burrowing habits (e.g. scolecophidians and uropeltids). Moreover, despite the above similarities,  Dinilysia  also occupies a totally unique morphospace, raising issues with linking it with any particular ecological category.

The morphology of the inner ear of squamate reptiles and its bearing on the origin of snakes