An Argentine-German team of scientists, including Senckenberg’s Krister Smith, has discovered the world’s first fossil evidence of live birth in snakes. The fossil they examined came from the Hessian UNESCO World Heritage Site Messel Pit.
An Argentine-German team of scientists, including Senckenberg’s Krister Smith, has discovered the world’s first fossil evidence of live birth in snakes. The fossil they examined came from the Hessian UNESCO World Heritage Site Messel Pit.
In the study, published in the journal The Science of Nature, the researchers describe bones of snake embryos discovered in the mother’s body. The finding shows that viviparous snakes already existed at least 47 million years ago.
Most reptiles alive today lay eggs; this so-called oviparity is their most common mode of reproduction. But there are exceptions: Numerous species of lizards and snakes are known to deviate from the norm and give birth to their offspring alive—viviparously.
« Fossil preservation of reproductive events is generally very rare. In total, only two fossil records of viviparous land reptiles have been discovered to date. We have now succeeded in describing the world’s first fossil evidence of a viviparous snake, » says Dr.
