Early snakes explored life underground, on land and at sea
A new study of the fossilized snake species Tametara mirim, discovered in Brazil, suggests that early snakes were ecologically diverse rather than limited to burrowing or aquatic environments. Researchers used 3D reconstruction to analyze the skull and brain anatomy of the 80-million-year-old specimen.
Why it matters
This discovery challenges long-standing evolutionary theories regarding the origins of snakes and their transition to a limbless body plan.
edited by Gaby Clark , reviewed by Robert Egan
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Add as preferred source Life reconstruction of the burrowing stem snake Tametara mirim against a background of sauropod dinosaurs and the enantiornithean bird Navaornis from the same locality in the Adamantina Formation, Late Cretaceous of Brazil. Credit: Gabriel Ugueto Snakes are highly modified lizards, with more than 4,000 living species today. The origin of snakes has long been one of evolutionary biology's most debated questions. Their sparse fossil record has made it hard to pin down what drove the evolution of their limbless body plan.
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