2024-07-29 09:49:21
Fossils were discovered in the White River Formation in 1976, and researchers first described the snake’s clustering behavior in 1986 in the study conducted. According to a statement from the University of Alberta, the snakes may have huddled together for warmth and protection during the winter — and this became the first clear fossil evidence of social behavior in reptiles. Fossils suggest that these snakes may have hibernating in groups, as modern garter snakes do (Thamnophis).
In a new study, June 19 published žurnale „Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society“using high-resolution computed tomography, scientists studied the fossils in more detail.
The team concluded that these snakes are related to modern boas and belong to a newly described species they named Hibernophis breithaupti. Hibernophis is a combination of the Latin word “hibernare” meaning “to hibernate” and the Greek word “ophis” meaning “snake”. The name refers to the unusual social behavior of the snake.
“This is really unusual for reptiles,” says study co-author and vertebrate paleontologist and evolutionary biologist Michael Caldwell of the University of Alberta (USA). “Of the nearly 15,000 different species of reptiles alive today, none hibernate the way garter snakes do.”
According to the US National Park Service, garter snakes common throughout North America congregate in communal burrows between October and April, sometimes traveling great distances to reach each other. By hibernating in packs, snakes stay warm when temperatures drop.
“They can’t regulate their body temperature, so they have to find a way to conserve as much heat as possible during the winter, and they do this by forming large masses,” Caldwell says.
H. breithaupti may have grouped together for the same reason, and fossils record this social behavior just as the animals died out. The researchers suspect that the snakes were caught in a low tide while in their winter lair, becoming trapped and quickly covered in fine sand silt.
This process not only kept the animals together in a group, but also preserved complete skeletons. This is especially rare in snakes, as they are made up of hundreds of vertebrae that are easily dispersed.
“There are probably close to a million individual snake vertebrae in museum collections around the world,” Caldwell says. – They are easy to find. But finding the whole snake? It’s a rare case.”
Parengta pagal „Live Science“.
2024-07-29 09:49:21