Oldest lizard fossil found

London, May 31: Scientists have identified the world’s oldest lizard - the most most ancient ancestor of all modern lizards and snakes — by analysing a 240- millionyearold fossil.

The study, published in the journal Nature, provides key insight into the evolution of modern lizards and snakes.

The 240- million- year- old fossil, Megachirella wachtleri, is the most ancient ancestor of all modern lizards and snakes, known as squamates, according to researchers including those from the University of Bristol in the UK.

The fossil, along with data from both living and extinct reptiles — which involved anatomical data drawn from CT scans and DNA — suggests the origin of squamates is even older, taking place in the late Permian period, more than 250 million years ago.

“The specimen is 75 million years older than what we thought were the oldest fossil lizards in the entire world and provides valuable information for understanding the evolution of both living and extinct squamates,” said Tiago Simoes, PhD student from the University of Alberta in Canada.

Currently, there are

◗ The fossil, along with data from both living and extinct reptiles — which involved anatomical data drawn from CT scans and DNA — suggests the origin of squamates is even older, taking place in the late Permian period

10,000 species of lizards and snakes around the world — twice as many different species as mammals. Despite this modern diversity, scientists did not know much about the early stages of their evolution.

“It is extraordinary when you realise you are answering long- standing questions about the origin of one of the largest groups of vertebrates on Earth,” said Simoes.

“Fossils are our only accurate window into the ancient past. Our new understanding of Megachirella is but a point in ancient time, but it tells us things about the evolution of lizards that we cannot learn from any of the 9000 or so species of lizards and snakes alive today,” said Michael Caldwell, also from the University of Alberta.