New Fossil May Help Solve How Snakes Lost Their Legs

How did snakes lose their legs? A new fossil may be helping researchers solve the evolutionary puzzle of how snakes lost their limbs.

In this case, the researchers looked at a 90-million-year-old skull. They used CT scans to examine the bony inner ear of the species, called Dinilysia patagonica. This animal was a two-meter-long reptile that was closely related to modern snakes. The bony canals that the researchers examined are similar to the ears of modern burrowing snakes and control hearing and balance.

The scientists then constructed 3D virtual models to compare the inner ears of the fossils with those of modern lizards and snakes. The researchers found a distinctive structure within the inner ear of animals that actively burrow, which may help them detect prey and predators. This shape, though, was not present in modern snakes that live in water or above ground.

"How snakes lost their legs has long been a mystery to scientists, but it seems that this happened when their ancestors became adept at burrowing," said Hongyu Yi, one of the researchers, in a news release. "The inner ears of fossils can reveal a remarkable amount of information, and are very useful when the exterior of fossils are too damaged or fragile to examine."

The findings help the researchers fill in the gaps of snake evolution. They also confirm that Dinilysia patagonica was the largest burrowing snake ever known. In theory, it's likely that the ancestral species of snake was also a burrower.

The findings are published in the journal Science Advances.

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