Researchers have discovered a new hook-toothed lizard. The Reptile Lived Approximately 167 Million Years ago and Resembled A Kind of Python with Legs.
The Hook-toothed Lizard was about 40 centimeters in size for its species. It exhibits Characteristics of Both Snakes and Geckos, Two Species That Are Very Distant Relatives. Scientists have found the oldest lizard fossil to date, writes nature .
The official name is Breugnatair Elgolensis, which means ‘false snake from elgol’. Elgol refers to the area on the scottish Island of Skye Where the Animal was discovered. The Reptile Likely Preyed on Smaller Lizards, Mammals, and Young Dinosaurs.
The Lizard Species had Snake-Like Jaws and Angular, Curved Teeth. Accordance to the Researchers, these are Similar to Those of Modern Pythons. But Instead of A Long Body, It was short, with the limbs of a lizard.
Scientists from the American Museum of Natural History Are Surprized by the Combination of Characteristics. “Possible the ancestors of snakes are very different from what we think.” It Possible Says a Lot About The Jurassic Period, in which many Animal Species Diverged.
The Reptile was found in 2016, But It Tok Researchers Almost ten Years to Prepare and Study The Fossil.