Access
This article is part of Nature's premium content.
Published online 27 January 2000 | Nature | doi:10.1038/news000127-8
News
A twist in the tail of snake evolution
Reconstructed skulls from an extinct group of Australian snakes may provide the much-needed missing link in the slippery story of snake evolution, Eleanor Lawrence explains.
New finds of fossil snake skull fragments indicate that the sinuous, legless snake body from a large predatory lizard-like ancestor, perhaps for swimming, or as an adaptation for sliding through dense vegetation. The finds are reported this week by John D.
To read this story in full you will need to login or make a payment (see right).
Comments
Reader comments are usually moderated after posting. If you find something offensive or inappropriate, you can speed this process by clicking 'Report this comment' (or, if that doesn't work for you, email redesign@nature.com). For more controversial topics, we reserve the right to moderate before comments are published.