Aquatic adaptations in the four limbs of the snake-like reptile Tetrapodophis from the Lower Cretaceous of Brazil |
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| Institution: | 1. South Australian Museum, North Terrace, Adelaide, SA 5000, Australia;2. School of Biological Sciences, Flinders University, GPO Box 2100, Adelaide, SA 5001, Australia;3. School of Biological Sciences, University of Adelaide, Adelaide, SA 5005, Australia;4. Department of Biological Sciences, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta T6G2E9, Canada;5. Department of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta T6G2E9, Canada;6. Department of Biology, University of Toronto Mississauga, Mississauga, ON L5L 1C6, Canada;1. Biology Department (Palaeontology) and Centro para la Integración en Paleobiología (CIPb), Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, Calle Darwin 2, Cantoblanco, 28049, Madrid, Spain;2. Department of Geological Sciences and Museum of Natural History, University of Colorado Boulder, Boulder, CO, 80309, USA;1. Laboratory of Orogenic Belt and Crustal Evolution, Ministry of Education and Department of Geology and Geological Museum, Peking University, Beijing 100871, China;2. Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences, University of California, Davis, CA 95616-8605, USA;3. Dipartimento di Scienze della Terra, Università degli Studi di Milano, Via Mangiagalli 34, 20133 Milano, Italy;4. School of Karst Science, Guizhou Normal University, Guiyang 550001, China;5. State Key Laboratory of Palaeobiology and Stratigraphy, Nanjing Institute of Geology and Palaeontology, CAS, Nanjing 210008, China;6. Business School, Tianjin University of Commerce, Tianjin 300134, China;1. Department of Biological Sciences, University of Alberta, Edmonton, AB T6G 2E9, Canada;2. CONICET, Área de Paleontología, Fundación de Historia Natural Félix de Azara, CEBBAD, Universidad Maimónides, Hidalgo 775, 1405 Buenos Aires, Argentina;3. Redpath Museum, McGill University, 859 Sherbrooke Street West, Montreal, QC H3A 0C4, Canada;1. Forest & Nature Lab, Department of Environment, Faculty of Bioscience Engineering, Ghent University, Geraardsbergsesteenweg 267, 9090 Gontrode (Melle), Belgium;2. School of Bioscience and Industrial Technology, HOGENT University of Applied Sciences and Arts, Brusselsesteenweg 161, 9090 Melle, Belgium;3. Flanders Research Institute for Agriculture, Fisheries and Food (ILVO), Plant Sciences Unit, Burgemeester Van Gansberghelaan 96, 9820 Merelbeke, Belgium;4. Department of Biology, Faculty of Sciences, Ghent University, K. L. Ledeganckstraat 35, 9000 Gent, Belgium;5. Netherlands Institute of Ecology, Dept. of Terrestrial Ecology (NIOO-KNAW), Droevendaalsesteeg 10, 6708 PB Wageningen, the Netherlands;6. Laboratory of Nematology, Dept. Plant Sciences, Wageningen University (WUR), PO Box 8123, 6700 ES Wageningen, the Netherlands;1. Laboratório de Herpetologia, Museu Paraense Emílio Goeldi, Av. Perimetral 1901, CP 399, 66017-970, Belém, Brazil;2. Museu Biológico, Instituto Butantan, Av. Vital Brazil 21500, 05503-900, São Paulo, Brazil;3. Programa de Pós-Graduação em Biologia-Genética, Universidade de São Paulo, Rua do Matão 277, 05508-090, São Paulo, Brazil;4. Museu de Zoologia, Universidade de São Paulo, Avenida Nazaré, 481, 04263-000, São Paulo, São Paulo State, Brazil |
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| Abstract: | The exquisite transitional fossil Tetrapodophis – described as a stem-snake with four small legs from the Lower Cretaceous of Brazil – has been widely considered a burrowing animal, consistent with recent studies arguing that snakes had fossorial ancestors. We reevaluate the ecomorphology of this important taxon using a multivariate morphometric analysis and a reexamination of the limb anatomy. Our analysis shows that the body proportions are unusual and similar to both burrowing and surface-active squamates. We also show that it exhibits striking and compelling features of limb anatomy, including enlarged first metapodials and reduced tarsal/carpal ossification – that conversely are highly suggestive of aquatic habits, and are found in marine squamates. The morphology and inferred ecology of Tetrapodophis therefore does not clearly favour fossorial over aquatic origins of snakes. |
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| Keywords: | Squamata Ophidia Serpentes Evolution Cretaceous Paleoecology |
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