Image: The fossil found (L Xing et al./Science Advances 2018)
It happened in Myanmar, when a group of paleontologists by chance came across a historical find. It was a lump of amber containing the first known snake baby fossil that had remained 99 million years in the resin. What are the odds? A snake from the age of the dinosaurs.
The fossil is extremely small, it lacks the head and is around 47.5 millimeters long. According to paleontologist Michael Caldwell of the University of Alberta, “Although it is a baby, there are unique features of the upper part of the vertebrae that had never before been seen in other fossil snakes of a similar type.”
In fact, researchers have named the new species Xiaophis myanmarensis, and believe it is related to some of the modern snakes in Southeast Asia. According to the paleontologist “The Xiaophis fits in the base of the snake family tree, and in a group of snakes that appear to be very old. It is clear that this small snake lived in a wooded environment with numerous insects and plants. Not only do we have the first baby snake, we also have the first definitive evidence of a fossil snake that lives in a forest.”
Caldwell has explained to the media that this is one of the first baby snake fossils found in history, so the fact that it is also 99 million years old is a great struck of luck. Due to the way normal fossils are created, small snakes would have been crushed and separated in the sedimentary rock. In fact, and according to the researchers, it was fortunate that this was incredibly well trapped in amber.
Image: L Xing et al./Science Advances 2018
However, the good thing about this little snake is not only what we know about it and can continue to learn about it. It also brings a series of interesting questions. According to Caldwell “It is not clear whether these primitive snakes gave birth or not, which is common in modern snakes, or if they were incubating eggs. I can not tell if it was still in the egg, and it broke and the little one got trapped in an amber bubble, or if it just came out of the shell.”
Be that as it may, Myanmar seems like a good place to find ancient creatures trapped in amber. In June, researchers found a small frog from the same period, making it the oldest direct evidence of frogs in a rainforest.
Not only that. They also found birds , a chameleon, a “vampire” ant and even a small dinosaur tail feathered in amber. Therefore, and considering all these incredible findings, it is probably not the last time we will hear about Myanmar amber discoveries.
Source: National Geographic
