New research details how these limbless reptiles that evolved from four-legged lizards got a figurative leg up on the competition.
Scientists generated a comprehensive evolutionary tree of snakes and lizards aided by genomic data spanning roughly 1,000 species, while reviewing the fossil record and compiling data on snake diet, skull anatomy, reproductive biology and geographical range.
They found that snakes experienced a burst of innovation early in their history and have evolved at a rate perhaps three to five times faster than their lizard cousins.
"It's like lizards are puttering along through time on the evolutionary moped or go-cart, and snakes are a V12 Lamborghini. Lizards are taking the city bus.
Snakes are on the evolutionary bullet train," said University of Michigan evolutionary biologist Daniel Rabosky, senior author of the study published on Thursday in the journal Science.
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