JULIUS CSOTONYIReconstitution of Portugalophis lignites: snakes first appeared 70 million years earlier than previous estimates JULIUS CSOTONYI
Fossils initially thought to belong to extinct species of lizards have been reclassified and assigned the status of oldest snakes on record. The four new described species of serpents have added 70 million years to the evolutionary history of these reptiles. Before this, herpetologists had evidence that snakes had appeared about 100 million years ago, but the new species indicate a far more remote origin. The fossils now presented by an international team of paleontologists suggest that these serpents lived between 167 million and 143 million years ago in different habitats (bogs, pools of water, and riverside or marine systems), during the Middle Jurassic. The largest among them, Portugalophis lignites, which was about 1 meter long, was discovered in Portugal. Another, Diablophis gilmorei, was retrieved in the state of Colorado, USA. The fossils of Parviraptor estesi and Eophis underwoodi, the most ancient of the bunch, were found in different locations in England (Nature Communications, January 27, 2015). “The study looks into the idea that evolution within the group we call “snakes” is much more complex than was previously thought,” says Michael Caldwell from the University of Alberta (Canada), main author of the work.
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