14 DAY TRIAL // A paper published earlier this week in the journal Science describes a rather odd set of fossilized remains discovered by University of Portsmouth paleontologists and fellow researchers carrying out excavation work at a site in Brazil.
The fossilized skeletal remains, shown in the photos below, are said to be about 110 million years old. This means that they date back to the Cretaceous period, i.e. roughly 145 to 66 million years ago.
Lo and behold, a snake sporting arms and legs
At first glance, the fossils seem to belong to a bizarre-looking ancient lizard of sorts. According to paleontologist Dave Martill and his colleagues, however, they actually belong to a long-lost snake. One with a complete set of limbs, that is.
The specimen, representative of a previously undocumented species now known as Tetrapodophis amplectus, appears to have died while still a juvenile. Hence the fact that its fossilized skeleton measures merely 20 centimeters (7.8 inches) in length.
Even so, its peculiar anatomy is unquestionable. Its front legs and its hind limbs, complete with elbows, wrists and even fingers and toes, are easy to identify. In fact, the entire skeleton is remarkably well preserved, especially given its age.
“The skeleton is fully articulated. Details of the bones are clearly visible and impressions of soft tissues such as scales and the trachea are preserved,” said researcher Helmut Tischlinger.
Interestingly, the team says that the specimen is so well preserved they even found bones belonging to another creature in its entrails. This other creature, a salamander, must have been the snake's last meal.
It makes sense for ancient snakes to have had legs
Fossilized remains unearthed over the years have helped paleontologists piece together a brief history of how snakes emerged and gradually spread across our entire planet.
Thus, it is now widely accepted that snakes evolved from lizards. Consequently, it makes sense for the first snakes to have had limbs, albeit very small ones. In time, they shook them off and became legless, slithering creatures.
Paleontologists believe that, before giving up on them completely, snakes went through a phase when they still made use of these limbs not for locomotion but to catch prey.
“When snakes stopped walking and started slithering, the legs didn’t just become useless little vestiges - they started using them for something else,” explained University of Bath specialist Nick Longrich in an interview.
“We’re not entirely sure what that would be, but they may have been used for grasping prey, or perhaps mates,” the paleontologist went on to add.
