Excavator scientists in West Westerng in the United States have discovered almost complete fossils of 34 million -year -old snakes called Hibernophis Breithaupti, a pioneering discovery that provides new visions about the development of snakes.
This study was published in the Journal of Zoology of the Lenin Association, as it reshapes our understanding of old snakes and their social behaviors and their evolutionary and modern snakes.
The fossils were found in the formation of the White River, which dates back to the first period of oligosin, the first complete skeleton of snakes from this era.
Four skeletons are discovered wonderfully inside a common winter shelter called “Hypenegolom”, which indicates a combination behavior to maintain warmth during the winter, which is rare among reptiles. This social behavior shows that old snakes had cooperated to survive in cold circumstances.
These fossils provide decisive information about the Bawwat family that includes modern snakes, so that the jaw structures and the arrangement of teeth and the spine differ from the known species, which prompted scientists to classify this type as a new type.
By comparing these fossils with modern snakes and DNA analysis, the researchers found that Hibernophis Breithaupti is closely related to modern snakes, which supports the theory that the albu snakes began as small species before developing to the largest size that we know today.
The process of keeping fossils was exceptional due to the dust of the volcano that covered the area and created a tight layer on the burrows of the snakes, which slowed the decomposition of the bodies and keeping the bones in accurate details. This allowed scientists to study more than 200 paragraphs, and a continuous rib and bone, which is rare in snake fossils.
“Finding whole snakes is rare, as most groups only contain separate paragraphs,” said Michael Caldel, the main fossil scientist at Alberta University. This discovery provides a detailed view of the anatomy and development of snakes, and fills an important gap in our understanding of the development and behaviors of snake.
According to scientists, Hibernophis Breithaupti not only provides important information in evolutionary biology, but also reveals that group survival strategies such as common hibernation have been present between snakes for millions of years, expanding our understanding of the behavior of ancient reptiles.
