Scientists in Argentina say they have found a snake with hips and hind legs that provides additional evidence of descent from a land-living lizard.
Najash rionegrina lived about 90 million years ago in the late Cretaceous, at a time when birds were evolving from dinosaurs and the great world continent Pangaea was breaking up, researchers said. The fossil was discovered in southern Patagonia by Sebastián Apesteguía of the Argentine Museum of Natural Sciences in Buenos Aires, and Hussam Zaher of the University of Sao Paulo, The Telegraph reported.
In an article in Nature, the scientists say that the fossil is the most primitive snake found and demonstrates that snakes evolved on land, disputing a theory that snakes were originally marine creatures. The scientists told the Telegraph they believe that the snake's anatomy is consistent with a burrowing animal and say that the fossil was found in rock layers that appear to be terrestrial in origin.
Unlike modern snakes, najash had bones linking its pelvis to 3-foot-long hind legs.
Copyright 2006 by United Press International
Related stories:
Fossil discovery marks earliest record of limbloss in ancient lizard
A University of Alberta paleontologist has helped discover the existence of a 95 million-year-old snakelike marine animal, a finding that provides not only the earliest example of limbloss in lizards but the first example of limbloss in an aquatic lizard.
Snake origin theories spark venomous debate
Rudyard Kipling tells a tale of how the elephant's trunk might have originated, thanks in part to the efforts of a quick-thinking snake. It seems Kipling did well to steer clear of questions pertaining to the evolution of snakes themselves - he might have found himself enmeshed within a highly charged debate which rages to this very day.
Outback snake fossil indicates lizard link
Australian scientists say the fossil of a snake that lived 30 million years ago has provided yet another insight into reptilian evolution.
Brown tree snake could mean Guam will lose more than its birds
In the last 60 years, brown tree snakes have become the embodiment of the bad things that can happen when invasive species are introduced in places where they have few predators. Unchecked for many years, the snakes caused the extinction of nearly every native bird species on the Pacific island of Guam.
World's smallest snake found in Barbados
(PhysOrg.com) -- The world's smallest species of snake, with adults averaging just under four inches in length, has been identified on the Caribbean island of Barbados. The species -- which is as thin as a spaghetti noodle and small enough to rest comfortably on a U.S. quarter --was discovered by Blair Hedges, an evolutionary biologist at Penn State. Hedges and his colleagues also are the discoverers of the world's smallest frog and lizard species, which too were found on Caribbean islands. The most recent discovery will be published on 4 August 2008 in the journal
Zootaxa.
Pourquiié Lab uncovers mechanism contributing to appropriate formation of the spine
The Stowers Institute's Pourquié Lab has shed light on the mechanism causing animals to develop the appropriate number of vertebrae.
Unique adaptive evolution in snake proteins -- insight into vertebrate physiology
Prior to the advent of large sequence datasets, it was assumed that innovation and divergence at the morphological and physiological level would be easily explained at the molecular level. Molecular explanations for physiological adaptations have, however, been rare.
Snakes Hear in Stereo
Physicists from the University Munich in Germany and the University of Topeka, Kansas have strong new evidence that snakes can hear through their jaws. Snakes don't have outer ears, leading to the myth that they can't hear at all.