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90 Million-Year-Old Skull Reveals Vital Clues About How Snakes Got Legless

by Dr. Trupti Shirole on Nov 30 2015 12:49 AM

Snakes lost their legs when their ancestors evolved to live and hunt in burrows, which many snakes still do today.

 90 Million-Year-Old Skull Reveals Vital Clues About How Snakes Got Legless
Previous studies had suggested that snakes lost their limbs in order to live in the sea. However, a 90 million-year-old skull is giving researchers vital clues about how snakes evolved. Comparisons between CT scans of the fossil and modern reptiles has indicated that snakes lost their legs when their ancestors evolved to live and hunt in burrows, which many snakes still do today.
Scientists used CT scans to examine the bony inner ear of Dinilysia patagonica, a 2-meter long reptile closely linked to modern snakes. These bony canals and cavities, like those in the ears of modern burrowing snakes, controlled its hearing and balance. The findings help scientists fill gaps in the story of snake evolution, and confirm Dinilysia patagonica as the largest burrowing snake ever known. They also offer clues about a hypothetical ancestral species from which all modern snakes descended, which was likely a burrower.

Dr. Hongyu Yi, of the University of Edinburgh's School of GeoSciences, who led the research, said, "The inner ears of fossils can reveal a remarkable amount of information, and are very useful when the exterior of fossils are too damaged or fragile to examine."

The study is published in Science Advances, and was supported by the Royal Society.

Source-ANI


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