It was announced that a fossil discovered in 2015 and described so far as a four-legged snake actually has nothing to do with snakes. The fossil was from a different species that lived 110 million years ago.
In 2015, a discovery was made that attracted the attention of the scientific world. Inside a rock from the Cretaceous period (66 – 145 million years ago) in Brazil a creature resembling a snake skeleton was found. However, there was one very important feature in the skeleton of this creature that distinguished it from the snake: Four small, immature legs.
This creature, named Tetrapodophis amplectus, was the very broken link between snakes and lizards, and thought to be a type of snake. But a recent study of the skeleton showed that wasn’t the case. According to the research, this creature had nothing in common with the snake, and It was a species of sea lizard that lived 110 million years ago.
It has nothing to do with the snake:
Paleontologist Michael Caldwell, who took part in the research, explained that this creature was not actually a snake and was misclassified. Caldwell described the creature’s anatomy with the anatomy of an extinct group of sea lizards known as ‘dolichosaurs’ from the Cretaceous period. show similarity expressed.
Caldwell and his team, who said that the examination in the discovery in 2015 had not been examined in detail and did not find it sufficient, decided to re-examine the skeleton. After examining the skeleton, the team found that the teeth were not hooked like the teeth of a snake. that its skull and skeleton are not like those of a snake discovered. However, large abdominal scales were not found in this creature. The most important part, however, was the remains of one of the seven last meals, resembling a fishbone, in the creature’s stomach. This is the living living in water was showing.
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This new research has not put an end to the debate about the origin of the creature. As the researches of the researchers who made the discovery in 2015 and this new research entered the science literature, the result will be close. Even if the creature is not a snake, it will contribute to science as it has been tremendously preserved to this day.
Source :
https://www.sciencealert.com/this-famous-four-legged-snake-fossil-is-something-else-after-all