80-million-year-old snake brain reveals early snakes explored diverse habitats, study finds
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An 80-million-year-old snake fossil from Brazil reveals that early snakes occupied diverse habitats much earlier than thought, a study in Nature reports. The CT-scanned brain of Tametara mirim shows adaptations for burrowing, while other ancient snakes were suited to land or marine life, indicating snakes explored multiple ecological niches simultaneously.
The Fossil Discovery
Researchers examined a nearly complete snake skeleton from Late Cretaceous deposits in southeastern Brazil, dating to around 80 million years ago. The specimen, named Tametara mirim, represents one of the most complete fossil snakes ever discovered. Led by Princeton University's Tiago Simões, the international team used computed tomography and 3D rendering to reconstruct the skull, vertebrae, and brain endocast.
Brain Structure and Lifestyles
The study compared Tametara with Dinilysia patagonica, another fossil snake from Argentina, and found distinct brain structures suggesting adaptations to different ways of life. Tametara's brain showed features linked to burrowing, while Dinilysia had traits associated with surface-dwelling. Other fossil evidence from the same period indicates some early snakes had marine lifestyles, highlighting an unexpected ecological range.
Resolving an Evolutionary Debate
The findings challenge the long-held debate over whether snakes evolved underground or in water, instead showing that early snakes diversified into multiple habitats simultaneously. 'Our findings show that early snakes had already achieved remarkable ecological and morphological diversity by the Late Cretaceous,' Simões said. The research, involving scientists from the University of Helsinki, underscores the importance of rare fossil preservation for understanding sensory evolution.
What's Next
The team plans to examine additional snake fossils from the same period to see if the pattern of ecological diversity extends globally. It remains unclear whether the common ancestor of all modern snakes was itself a burrower or if the ancestral condition was more generalized.
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80-million-year-old snake brain reveals early snakes explored diverse habitats, study finds
