Toronto: Snake ancestors that lived nearly 100 million years ago, had legs and a cheekbone which have disappeared entirely in their modern day descendants, according to a study which examined fossils of an ancient rear-limbed reptile called Najash rionegrina.
The study, published in the journal Science Advances, showed that snakes possessed hind legs during the first 70 million years of their evolution, and had cheekbones -- also known as a jugal bone. The researchers, including those from the University of Alberta in Canada, also revealed how the flexible skull of the ancient snake evolved from their lizard ancestors. Until now, understanding of the evolutionary history of early snakes was limited by unavailability of fossil records, they said.
The nearly 100 million year old fossil snakes were found in Northern Patagonia — a region at the base of South America spanning the lower sections of Argentina and Chile, they added.
—PTI
