Megachirella-wachtleri lizards snakes

NATURE

Discovery of 240-Million-Year-Old 'Mother of All Lizards' Changes What Scientists Knew About Reptiles' Evolution

https://weather.com/science/nature/news/2018-06-03-megachirella-wachtleri-lizards-snakes-oldest-ancestor-fossil

The "mother of all lizards" has been discovered by an international team of researchers who say the find will provide key insight into how modern-day reptiles evolved.

Megachirella wachtleri, a 240-million-year-old fossil, is the oldest known ancestor of lizards and snakes, according to a recent study published in the journal Nature. Its discovery suggests the origins of today's reptiles, or squamates, date back further than scientists thought, beginning in the late Permian period over 250 million years ago.

"The specimen is 75 million years older than what we thought were the oldest fossil lizards in the entire world and provides valuable information for understanding the evolution of both living and extinct squamates," lead author and University of Alberta Ph.D. student Tiago Simões said in a release on the findings.

Megachirella was initially discovered in northern Italy's Dolomite Mountains in the early 2000s, but scientists were unable to find a way to categorize it among the thousands of known reptile species, according to the release. The researchers compared the fossil's anatomy to that of other early lizards and snakes and discovered it was the oldest known of their kind.

Another reason to go to Italy to see the Dolomite Mountains.