MEXICO: The first known fossil of a four-legged snake has been discovered by a scientist on a routine field trip to a museum.
It is hoped the find will help unravel the mystery of how serpents lost their legs.
Dave Martill, from the University of Portsmouth, found the fossil in a collection in a German museum.
It shows snakes evolved from burrowing lizards and not from marine lizards, Dr Martill said.
The fossil from Brazil dates from the Cretaceous period and is 110 million years old, making it the oldest definitive snake.
Dr Martill said: ‘It is generally accepted that snakes evolved from lizards at some point in the distant past.
‘What scientists don’t know yet is when they evolved, why they evolved, and what type of lizard they evolved from.
‘This fossil answers some very important questions, for example it now seems clear to us that snakes evolved from burrowing lizards, not from marine lizards.’
Dr Martill made the discovery on a trip with students to Museum Solnhofen, which has a prestigious fossil collection.
He said: ‘The fossil was part of a larger exhibition of fossils from the Cretaceous period.
‘It was clear that no one had appreciated its importance, but when I saw it I knew it was an incredibly significant specimen.’
Dr Martill worked with expert German palaeontologist Helmut Tischlinger, who prepared and photographed the fossil.
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