2023-06-21 12:51:26
Archive – Phalotris shawnella – JEAN-PAUL BROUARD – Archive
MADRID, 21 Jun. (EUROPA PRESS) –
Chinese scientists have revealed the temporal origin of snakes and the evolutionary mechanism of their unique morphological adaptations.
Snakes are at the key point of vertebrate evolution in the history of biological evolution, said Li Jiatang, a researcher at the Chengdu Institute of Biology of the Chinese Academy of Sciencesadding that studying the genetic mechanism of their unique morphological adaptations is important to understanding the history of vertebrate evolution.
The researchers selected the world’s most representative snakes from different branches and comprehensively used interdisciplinary research methods such as multi-omics and gene editing in the study, informa Xinhua.
Based on the snake genome dataset at the chromosome level, the researchers have built the most powerful phylogenetic framework on snakes to date and conclude that snakes originated in the early Cretaceous period 118 million years ago.
They identified genes, regulatory elements, and structural variations that have potentially contributed to the evolution of limb loss, an elongated body plan, asymmetric lungs, sensory systems, and digestive adaptations in snakes.
The researchers also explored the evolutionary genetic mechanism of blind snakes and infrared-sensitive snakes.
The study findings have been published in the Cell magazine.
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