Study shows how snakes got an evolutionary leg up on the competition

 Study shows how snakes got an evolutionary leg up on the competition output 

Washington: Snakes have written an evolutionary success story since they first emerged during the time of the dinosaurs, slithering into practically every type of habitat on Earth, from the tops of trees to the oceans. The way these limbless reptiles, which descended from lizards with four legs, gained an advantage over their competitors is explained by recent study.

Using genomic data from almost 1,000 species, scientists created a thorough evolutionary tree of snakes and lizards. They also reviewed the fossil record, compiled information on snake food, skull structure, reproductive biology, and geographic range.

They discovered that compared to their lizard cousins, snakes underwent a rapid period of innovation early in their evolutionary history and have since evolved at a rate that may be three to five times quicker. output

"Snakes seem like a V12 Lamborghini, whereas lizards are slowly making their way through time on an evolutionary moped or go-cart. The city bus is being used by lizards. Snake evolution is "on the bullet train," according to Daniel Rabosky, a senior author of a paper published on Thursday in the journal Science and an evolutionary biologist at the University of Michigan.

About 120 million years ago, snakes first appeared. The first known entirely limbless snake lived approximately 85 million years ago, according to R. Alexander Pyron, an evolutionary scientist from George Washington University and co-author of the paper. Early snakes had vestiges of limbs.

The study discovered that early snakes underwent significant anatomical changes, mostly to become highly specialized predators. Their heads grew incredibly flexible so they could better swallow and grab prey. They developed a highly effective prey-detection mechanism and a sophisticated chemoreception, or sense of smell. Some acquired infrared vision, which is simply heat sensing. A few become poisonous.

The researchers assembled a sizable dataset on the diets of snakes and lizards, which included important details about the contents of dead individuals' stomachs from museum collections.

"Generally speaking, lizards consume insects, spiders, and similar things. Sometimes plants. As highly specialized feeders, snakes typically consume vertebrates or unusual, difficult-to-eat invertebrates. When snakes do consume invertebrates, it's usually poisonous species like scorpions and deadly centipedes, or slimy, repulsive snails.or snails," stated Rabosky.

Over time, certain lizard species have lost all of their appendages, but they have never enjoyed the same level of evolutionary success as snakes.

"Snakes are very distinct from other legless lizards. The majority of these lizards dig in dirt or sand, however they may even creep through grass. Snakes can be found doing anything from fast climbing in trees to deep diving on coral reefs in the water, according to Rabosky.

According to Pyron, there was a surge in snake evolutionary innovation between 90 and 110 million years ago. This innovation also happened at different points following the asteroid strike that wiped off the dinosaurs 66 million years ago.

"I have a feeling that because snakes were so good at innovating - at evolving new traits quickly - they were able to take advantage of ecological opportunities that came up, such as when the mass extinction 66 million years ago wiped out a lot of other species," Rabosky stated.

Threadsnakes, at around 4 inches (10 cm) in length, are the smallest of the living snakes. At about 20 feet (6 meters), the reticulated python is the longest. At almost 43 feet (13 meters), Titanoboa was the largest known extinct snake.

"You may believe that all snakes are the same. However, the appearance of arboreal snakes differs greatly from that of aquatic snakes, those that burrow, and so on, according to Pascal Title, an evolutionary biologist at Stony Brook University and the study's lead author.

The 3,900 snake species that are still in existence have an amazing ecological diversity.

Fish eggs removed from coral reef fissures are the food source for paddle-tailed sea snakes. Certain tree snakes can remove snails from their shells with their specially designed teeth and "de-slime" them using chemicals. Certain boas chase bats that hang out in caves. Certain snakes are experts in consuming the eggs of frogs, earthworms, or birds. Some eat other snakes as prey.

There are those who detest and dread snakes. Not these investigators.

"Everything about them is fascinating, from the way they move to the way they interact with the rest of their ecosystems," Pyron stated. "They are beautiful, graceful and mostly harmless."