discovery Brazil fossil snake with four legs, a single specimen suggests that the ancestry of these reptiles were non-marine and terrestrial , according to a study released Thursday by the US scientific journal Science .
The new species, named Tetrapodophis amplectus , he lived in the Cretaceous, made between about 146 and 100 million years, and has many physiological traits similar to those of the Current snakes : short nose, elongated calvarium flakes, pointy teeth and a very flexible jaw to swallow large prey
This reptile also had a vertebral structure similar to that of their descendants, allowing Extreme FLEXIBILITY , needed to squeeze their prey to drown.
The only difference of Tetrapodophis with modern snakes are all fours, apparently did not serve to move , but to catch prey or mating.
The authors of this study also reveal the absence of the typical long tail of aquatic reptiles such as alligators, thus confronting the hypothesis that snakes do not directly descended from aquatic ancestors .
The researchers analyzed the genetic and morphological characteristics of Tetrapodophis and compared with other known species of snakes.
AFP
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