Najash rionegrina. Image credit: Raúl O. Gómez, Universidad de Buenos Aires.
Sci-News has a story about the evolution of snakes. A 3-D preserved snake fossil from about 100 million years ago shows compelling clues as to the evolution of snake. This animal, called Najash rionegrina, still had legs and jugal (cheek) bones. The specimens were found in northern Patagonia, Argentina. Details can be found in a paper published in the November 20th, 2019 issue of the journal Science Advances.
The evolution of the snake body has captivated researchers for a long time, representing one of the most dramatic examples of the vertebrate body’s ability to adapt. But a limited fossil record has obscured our understanding of their early evolution until now.
“Snakes are famously legless, but then so are many lizards,” said Dr. Alessandro Palci, a researcher at Flinders University.
“What truly sets snakes apart is their highly mobile skull, which allows them to swallow large prey items.”
“For a long time we have been lacking detailed information about the transition from the relatively rigid skull of a lizard to the super flexible skull of snakes.”
“Our findings support the idea that the ancestors of modern snakes were big-bodied and big-mouthed — instead of small burrowing forms as previously thought,” added Dr. Fernando Garberoglio, a scientist in the Fundación Azara at the Universidad Maimónides.
