Classifying the living often amounts to placing borders where evolution has not drawn it. Between the reptiles to the griffus limbs and the snakes without legs, the lines seem clear, but they can scramble as soon as we search the layers of the past. This is precisely what reveals Breugnathaira jurassic fossil whose anatomy intrigues as much as it questions the history of squamates.
The fossil, designated nms g.2023.7.1, presents a disarticulated but remarkably complete skeleton. Its discovery in the layers of the average Jurassic is a rarity. Researchers from the National Museums Scotland, accompanied by colleagues from the University of Cambridge, used advanced tools, including synchrotron tomography, to reconstruct each element of its anatomy. This approach has made it possible to access bone details so far inaccessible in other fossils of old squamates.
The island of Skye thus confirms its status as a major paleontological site. According to Susan Evans, a paleontologist at the University College London, these Jurassic deposits bring crucial clues to the origins of many current lines, especially those of the lizards. This new specimen is part of the family of Parviraptoridaea group of extinguished predators that scientists still struggle to locate with precision in the evolutionary tree.
© Mick Ellison / AMNHThis Jurassic reptile could have hunted small prey, such as rodents.
Breugnathair upsets the benchmarks of the animal classification
At first glance, BREUGNATHAIR ELGOLENSIS looks like a small lizard. It is about 40 centimeters long, the size of a cat, and has well -developed members. However, its elongated head, its powerful jaws and its curved teeth evoke those of a python. This unexpected mixture of characteristics first suggested the researchers that they were dealing with two distinct species. It was only after a rigorous analysis that they understood that all these bones belonged to a single individual.
The details of his anatomy were published in the journal Nature by a team led by Roger Benson, paleontologist within the American Museum of Natural History. The study reveals a dental architecture very close to that of snakes, with fangs deeply established in poorly dug alveoli, typical of specialized predators. However, other elements of the skull, such as non -united parietal bones, refer to much more primitive reptiles. This contrast between advanced and archaic features makes any classification difficult.
Scientists evoke possible evolutionary convergence. Breugnathair Could have developed his serpentine jaws not because he was a direct ancestor of snakes, but because his mode of predation required similar adaptations. According to Popular Science, this hypothesis strengthens the idea that the evolutionary ways are not linear. Different species can lead to comparable forms in response to similar ecological pressures.
When the evolution tests different predation formulas
Researchers do not exclude that BREUGNATHAIR ELGOLENSIS Or an early representative of an extinguished line, which would have experienced an intermediate hunting style between that of the lizard and the serpent. This fossil calls into question the classic scenarios that snakes would gradually descend from lizards to elongated bodies and reduced limbs. Here, the members are still present and functional, while the jaws have already adopted an architecture adapted to the capture of living prey.
For Roger Benson, this discovery sheds light on a shadow area of the evolution of squamates. According to him, Breugnathair shows that the ancestors of the snakes could have been very different from what we imagined. However, another hypothesis remains possible. The features close to the snakes could have emerged several times, without direct link. This scenario would support the idea of a phase of intense morphological experiments during the Jurassic.
The study also highlights the limits of classifications based solely on morphology. Phylogenetic analyzes, integrating both anatomical characters and molecular data, are still struggling to position the parviraptorids precisely. Eurekalert also underlines that it remains difficult to assert if Breugnathair belongs to the line which will give birth to modern snakes or if it is just a distant cousin. In any case, his skeleton acts as a revealer of the complexity of evolutionary trajectories, often much more winding than expected.
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