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

‘Previously it was thought that snakes lost their limbs in order to live in the sea. However, a new fossil study has suggested that snakes lost their legs when their ancestors evolved to live and hunt in burrows.’

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