Fossil snake with infrared vision: Early evolution of snakes in the Messel Pit examined
Thursday, March 19, 2020 - 08:30
in Paleontology & Archaeology
Together with his Argentinian colleague Agustín Scanferla, Senckenberg scientist Krister Smith studied the early evolution of snakes in the Messel Pit. In the study, recently published in the scientific journal Diversity, the team was able to show that around 48 million years ago, the ecosystem of the modern-day UNESCO World Heritage Site was home to a wide diversity of snakes. According to their results, a species of snake previously known as Palaeopython fischeri—named after former German foreign minister Joschka Fischer—actually belongs to the genus Eoconstrictor and was able to generate an infrared image of its surroundings.