Subscribe free to our newsletters via your
. 24/7 Space News .




EARLY EARTH
Serpent evolution uncoiled on land, not the ocean
by Brooks Hays
New Haven, Conn. (UPI) May 20, 2015


disclaimer: image is for illustration purposes only

In looking at snake genomes, serpent anatomy and new clues from early snake fossils, researchers at Yale concluded the earliest ancestral snakes lived on land, not in the water.

"We infer that the most recent common ancestor of all snakes was a nocturnal, stealth-hunting predator targeting relatively large prey, and most likely would have lived in forested ecosystems in the Southern Hemisphere," Allison Hsiang, a paleontologist and postdoctoral researcher at Yale University, explained in a press release.

The comprehensive analysis of genetics and fossil records allowed snake experts at Yale to reconstruct a massive family tree. In retracing both ongoing and extinct lineages, researchers revealed evolutionary patterns that allowed them to paint a clearer picture of the planet's earliest snakes.

"Our analyses suggest that the most recent common ancestor of all living snakes would have already lost its forelimbs, but would still have had tiny hind limbs, with complete ankles and toes," said study co-author Daniel Field. "It would have first evolved on land, instead of in the sea. Both of those insights resolve longstanding debates on the origin of snakes."

The study posits that the earliest ancestors of modern snakes -- a group that includes 3,400 living species -- populated the forest floors of the middle Early Cretaceous period, some 128.5 million years ago. Like their modern relatives, ancestral snakes seized their prey with sharp, hooked teeth and swallowed them whole.

It's perhaps their origins on the floors of the forest -- where the earliest humans and their primate ancestors lived and foraged for food -- that makes snakes such a longstanding boogieman of the human psyche.

"Primate brains, including those of humans, are hard-wired to attend to serpents, and with good reason," said senior study author Jacques Gauthier, a geophysicist professor and curator of fossil vertebrates at the Yale Peabody Museum of Natural History. "Our natural and adaptive attention to snakes makes the question of their evolutionary origin especially intriguing."

The new research was published in the journal BMC Evolutionary Biology.


Thanks for being here;
We need your help. The SpaceDaily news network continues to grow but revenues have never been harder to maintain.

With the rise of Ad Blockers, and Facebook - our traditional revenue sources via quality network advertising continues to decline. And unlike so many other news sites, we don't have a paywall - with those annoying usernames and passwords.

Our news coverage takes time and effort to publish 365 days a year.

If you find our news sites informative and useful then please consider becoming a regular supporter or for now make a one off contribution.
SpaceDaily Contributor
$5 Billed Once


credit card or paypal
SpaceDaily Monthly Supporter
$5 Billed Monthly


paypal only


.


Related Links
Explore The Early Earth at TerraDaily.com






Comment on this article via your Facebook, Yahoo, AOL, Hotmail login.

Share this article via these popular social media networks
del.icio.usdel.icio.us DiggDigg RedditReddit GoogleGoogle








EARLY EARTH
Retracing the bird's beak to its dinosaur origins, in the laboratory
New Haven CT (SPX) May 19, 2015
Scientists have successfully replicated the molecular processes that led from dinosaur snouts to the first bird beaks. Using the fossil record as a guide, a research team led by Yale paleontologist and developmental biologist Bhart-Anjan S. Bhullar and Harvard developmental biologist Arhat Abzhanov conducted the first successful reversion of a bird's skull features. The scientists replicat ... read more


EARLY EARTH
NASA's LRO Moves Closer to the Lunar Surface

European Space Agency Director Wants to Set Up a Moon Base

Russia Invites China to Join in Creating Lunar Station

Japan to land first unmanned spacecraft on moon in 2018

EARLY EARTH
Technique for finding signs of life on the Red Planet

Quick Detour by NASA Mars Rover Checks Ancient Valley

Mystery Methane on Mars: The Saga Continues

Auroras on Mars

EARLY EARTH
Photonic Laser Thruster Propels Simulated Spacecraft

Russia races to replace Sarah Brightman as space tourist

Potentially Revolutionary Mission Heading for 2016 Launch

High-tech Analysis of Orion Heat Shield Underway

EARLY EARTH
3D printer making Chinese space suit parts

Xinhua Insight: How China joins space club?

Chinese scientists mull power station in space

China completes second test on new carrier rocket's power system

EARLY EARTH
ISS Partners Adjust Spacecraft Schedule

Samantha's longer stay on ISS

Italian astronaut shows how to use restroom on ISS online

Russia delays return of ISS crew members after supply ship failure

EARLY EARTH
DirecTV-15 and SKY Mexico-1 integrated for Ariane 5 heavy-lift mission

Russia to Launch US Comms Satellite Into Space

Report: SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket certified to fly NASA missions

Fifth Vega takes shape for its flight with Sentinel-2A

EARLY EARTH
Weather forecasts for planets beyond our solar system

Astrophysicists offer proof that famous image shows forming planets

Astronomers detect drastic atmospheric change in super Earth

New exoplanet too big for its star

EARLY EARTH
Printing 3-D graphene structures for tissue engineering

Tunable liquid metal antennas

Seashell strength inspires stress tests

Nanomaterials inspired by bird feathers turn light into color




The content herein, unless otherwise known to be public domain, are Copyright 1995-2014 - Space Media Network. All websites are published in Australia and are solely subject to Australian law and governed by Fair Use principals for news reporting and research purposes. AFP, UPI and IANS news wire stories are copyright Agence France-Presse, United Press International and Indo-Asia News Service. ESA news reports are copyright European Space Agency. All NASA sourced material is public domain. Additional copyrights may apply in whole or part to other bona fide parties. Advertising does not imply endorsement, agreement or approval of any opinions, statements or information provided by Space Media Network on any Web page published or hosted by Space Media Network. Privacy Statement All images and articles appearing on Space Media Network have been edited or digitally altered in some way. Any requests to remove copyright material will be acted upon in a timely and appropriate manner. Any attempt to extort money from Space Media Network will be ignored and reported to Australian Law Enforcement Agencies as a potential case of financial fraud involving the use of a telephonic carriage device or postal service.