Snakes lost their limbs when their ancestors evolved to wriggle through burrows, and not in order to live in the sea, according to a new analysis of a 90 million-year-old reptile fossil skull.
Comparisons between CT scans of the fossil and modern reptiles indicate that snakes lost their legs when their ancestors evolved to live and hunt in burrows, which many snakes still do today.
"How snakes lost their legs has long been a mystery to scientists, but it seems that this happened when their ancestors became adept at burrowing," said Hongyu Yi, of the Edinburgh's School of GeoSciences, who led the research.
"The inner ears of fossils can reveal a remarkable amount of information, and are very useful when the exterior of fossils are too damaged or fragile to examine," Yi said.
