New research pushes back clock on snakes by about 70 million years
Wednesday, January 28, 2015, 1:33 PM - A new study could change what experts thought they knew about snakes.
According to the latest research from University of Alberta professor Michael Caldweel, is rolling back the clock on the origin of snakes by about 70 million years.
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Artist conception of the newly identified snakes (Image: Julius Csotonyi)
"The study explores the idea that evolution within the group called 'snakes' is much more complex than previously thought," Caldwell told the University of Alberta. "Importantly, there is now a significant knowledge gap to be bridged by future research, as no fossil snakes are known between 140 to 100 million years ago.
The new timeline places the snakes in the cretaceous period alongside some other dinosaurs like the Tyrannosaurus Rex, Albertosaurus and the Iguanodon, among others.
The skull features of the fossil made it possible to identify the species as a snake.
"Based on the new evidence and through comparison to living legless lizards that are not snakes, the paper explores the novel idea that the evolution of the characteristic snake skull and its parts appeared long before snakes lost their legs," he explains.
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