Scientists Discover 23 Million-Year-Old Lizard Fossil in Mexico

A team of Mexican scientists has discovered a lizard fossil that lived around 23 million years ago, trapped in amber, reports IANS.

Several months ago the scientists found a small piece of fossil resin in the shape of a trapezoid in which the lizard remains were found. The fossil was retrieved from Simojovel amber deposits that are located in the northern part of the southeastern state of Chiapas.

The complete fossil of the lizard that was preserved in the amber is currently on display at the Amber Museum in San Cristobal de las Casas.

Amber is a tree resin and most often contains remains of animal and plant remains.  But to find the complete remains of a specimen is very rare, as in the case of this lizard fossil. Initially, the scientists had identified the lizard as a new species belonging to the genus Anolis.

With almost 400 species, Anolis is a genus of lizards belonging to the family Dactyloidae. The Anolis lizards are best known for their adaptive radiation as well as convergent evolution, reports Wikipedia.

Francisco Riquelme of the National Autonomous University of Mexico's Physics Institute to EFE said that the newly discovered fossil lizards measured almost 4.5 cm by 1.3 cm. What was even more interesting about this 23-million-old lizard fossil was that it had well preserved remains of not just the soft tissues but also the skin.

Gerardo Carbot, director of Chiapas's Paleontology Museum said, "The fossil specimens found in the state date back a minimum of 23 million years because that is the age of the amber that is extracted from deposits in the municipalities of Simojovel, Huitihupan, El Bosque, Pueblo Nuevo, Palenque, Totolapa and Malpaso."