80-Million-Year-Old Tametara Fossil Rewrites Snake Origins, Showing Early Lineages Split Across 3 Habitats
Updated
Updated · The Brighter Side of News · Aug 8
80-Million-Year-Old Tametara Fossil Rewrites Snake Origins, Showing Early Lineages Split Across 3 Habitats
3 articles · Updated · The Brighter Side of News · Aug 8
Summary
Tametara mirim, an 80-million-year-old fossil from Brazil, shows early snakes were already ecologically diverse rather than evolving through a single burrowing-or-swimming pathway.
CT scans of its unusually preserved skull, brain cavity and 103 vertebrae found burrowing traits including a reinforced skull, reduced optic region and inner-ear features linked to underground life.
Comparisons with Dinilysia patagonica from Argentina showed a different early snake adapted to terrestrial life, indicating separate lineages had already specialized in distinct habitats.
The study argues early snakes shifted among burrowing, land and marine environments far earlier than thought, complicating the search for one ancestral lifestyle.
Published in Nature, the findings also highlight how digital imaging of rare fossils can reveal sensory evolution and broaden where researchers look for early snake remains.