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The first discovery of an ancient snake embryo kept in the amber of 105 million years, provides important new information on the evolution of snakes modern.
"This snake is linked to the ancient species of Argentina, Africa, India and Australia," says paleontologist Michael Caldwell, lead author of the 39; study and professor in the Department of Biological Sciences at the University of Alberta . "This is an important, and until now lost, component of understanding from the evolution of the snake in the southern continents, ie Gondwana, in the middle of the Mesozoic. "
Caldwell and his international team, including collaborators from Australia , China and the United States followed the migration of these ancient Gondwanan snakes, which began 180 million years ago by tectonic movements of continents and parts of continents, from Australia and Australia. India, Madagascar, and Africa, and finally Asia, India, and Myanmar.
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The amber fragment in s which the specimen was found also provides important clues to its environment.
"It is clear that this little snake lived in a wooded environment with many insects and plants because they are kept" Caldwell explained. "Not only we have the first baby snake we also have the first definitive evidence of a fossil snake living in a forest."
Using computerized tomography, the scientific team studied old snake and compared it to young modern snakes. Their findings gave an unexpected view of the development and embryology of the ancient specimen, including the formation of the vertebrae and the notochord.
"All these data refine our understanding of the early evolution of the snake, since It is known that snakes of 100 million years are only about 20 species of fossil snakes relatively complete, "said Caldwell." There is a lot of new information kept in this new fossilized baby snake. "
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