Study: Snakes' Ancestors Had Hind Legs

A study published Tuesday suggests more than 3,400 snake species may have originated from the same ancestor, which had hind legs and sharp, hooked teeth to eat large prey. A team of paleontologists from Yale University constructed a snake “family tree” by analyzing fossil data, genetic sequencing, and anatomical comparisons of 73 snakes and lizard species. The most recent common ancestor of all snakes was nocturnal and lived 128.5 million years ago in the Southern Hemisphere, the study finds. However, because there are no fossil records of the creature, the team cannot confirm the model they’ve recreated.