Brazilian scientists discovered the fossil of a snake with four legs. The finding indicates that the snake evolved from the ancestors of the animals living in burrows, rather than marine ancestors.
The quadruped specimen was discovered in Crato formation in Brazil. A description of the fossil is published today in the journal Science.
In analyzing both genetics and morphological characteristics of the species compared with other known species of snakes, the authors determined that the four-legged creature is indeed , an ancestor of today’s snakes.
The species was dubbed Tetrapodophis amplectus and lived during the Early Cretaceous, makes from 146 to 100 million years ago and lived with dinosaurs .
It retains many classic characteristics of the snake, as short muzzle, large cranial cavity, elongated body, scales, sharp teeth and flexible jaw to swallow large prey.
It also retains the vertebrae typical structure observed in the current snakes and allows extreme flexibility required to catch their victims.
The main and obvious difference is the four limbs that seem to have been used for locomotion.
Instead, short external fingers and second fingers elongated limbs indicate that they were used, according to the authors, to grab the victim or subject during mating.
The authors also noted that the specimen lacks the long side, common in aquatic animals compressed tail, which reinforces the theory that snakes evolved from marine ancestors not.
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