Scientists hope the discovery will help show how snakes made the transition from lizards to serpents.
scientists have discovered first four-legged snake through a 113-million-year-old fossil from Brazil. According to BBC, several other fossil snakes have been found with hind limbs, but the new find is estimated to be a direct ancestor of modern snakes. Its delicate arms and legs were not used for walking, but probably helped the creature to grab its prey. The fossil shows adaptations for burrowing, not swimming, strengthening the idea that snakes evolved on land. That debate is a long-running one among palaeontologists, and researchers say wiggle room is running out for the idea that snakes developed from marine reptiles. "This is the most primitive fossil snake known, and it's pretty clearly not aquatic," said Dr Nick Longrich from the University of Bath, one of the authors of the new study published in Science magazine.
