It all happened at an evolutionary time. Sixty-six million years ago, a huge asteroid burned in Earth’s atmosphere and annihilated non-avian dinosaurs. Survivors (mammals, frogs, reptiles, and more) spread, diversified, and became many of the species we know today.
But new research has focused on what snakes were doing during this time, called the Cretaceous-Paleogene (K-Pg) mass extinction. It now appears that only a handful of snakes that survive the asteroids evolved into all of today’s serpentine species.
“It’s remarkable, because not only do they survive an extinction that wipes out so many other animals, but in a few million years they’re innovating, using their habitats in new ways,” says Catherine Klein, first author and phylogeneticist. while at the University of Bath.
There has been some scientific back and forth about the amount of scales (reptiles like lizards and snakes) affected by mass extinction.
Originally, they were thought to suffer minimal losses, but in North America there was particularly evidence of a high rate of flake extinctions at the K-Pg border.
“The evolutionary history of snakes across the K-Pg boundary has been particularly difficult to assess,” the team writes in its new article.
The lack of early snake fossils has meant that the evolutionary genetic analysis of snakes is based on a very restricted set of traits. This can lead to skewed patterns that may not reflect your actual genetic history, the team explains.
But by combining different modeling approaches involving genetic data and fossil sampling over different time periods, researchers have provided a comprehensive view of modern snakes from then until now.
So the asteroid landed, the dinosaurs fell, and suddenly there was much more room to move. How were the snakes?
The extinction of competitors (including other species of snakes) meant that survivors could slide to their heart’s content and move to new niches, new habitats, and even new continents.
“Our research suggests that extinction acted as a form of‘ creative destruction ’: by eliminating old species, it allowed survivors to exploit ecosystem lagoons, experimenting with new lifestyles and habitats,” he said. one from the University of Bath team. evolutionary researcher Nick Longrich.
“This seems to be a general feature of evolution: it is the periods immediately following the most important extinctions where we see evolution in the wildest and most innovative way. The destruction of biodiversity leaves new things to emerge and colonize. new masses of land. Ultimately, life becomes more diverse than before. “
Before this period there were Cretaceous snakes: we know this because their vertebrae were different at that time. But when these snakes died for the most part, modern snakes with all their wonderful shapes and forms began to emerge after destruction. Vipers and snakes, tree and sea snakes, boas and pythons – all occurred after the massive 10-kilometer (6.2-mile) asteroid decimated the Earth.
“The massive extinction of the Cretaceous-Paleogene (K-Pg) led to the extinction of numerous groups of vertebrates, and its consequences produced a rapid diversification of surviving mammals, birds, frogs and teleost fish,” the team writes.
“Our results help corroborate the fundamental role of K-Pg mass extinction in shaping the vertebrate biodiversity that our planet occupies today.”
Well, life really finds a way.
The study has been published in Communications on Nature.