TNPSC Thervupettagam

35 million years old rare snake fossil

May 18 , 2022 681 days 721 0
  • Scientists have discovered a 35 million years old Madtsoiidae snake fossil from the molasse deposits of Ladakh.
  • This reveals their prevalence in the subcontinent for much longer time than previously thought.
  • Madtsoiidae is an extinct group of medium-sized to gigantic snakes.
  • They first appeared during the late Cretaceous.
  • And it is mostly distributed in the Gondwanan landmasses.
  • Their Cenozoic record is extremely scarce.
  • From the fossil record, we infer that the whole group disappeared in the mid-Paleogene across most Gondwanan continents.
  • However, in Australia the species survived with its last known taxon Wonambi till late Pleistocene.

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