Snakes Evolve 3 Times Faster Than Lizards [Study]

(Photo: Wikimedia Commons/NASA)
Snakes Evolve 3 Times Faster Than Lizards [Study]

Lizards excel in evolution, and they do so speedily. However, snakes reportedly do better than them.

Snakes Evolve Faster Than Lizards

A new study from a team of biologists from the University of Michigan examined snakes' genetic and dietary habits. They learned how fast the animal evolved, which they believed contributed to its success in the Animal kingdom.

The DNA analysis revealed to the scientists how snakes evolved up to three times more quickly than their scaly relatives, the lizards. A group of lizards split apart around 100 million years ago, becoming a legless species. After evolving into expert hunters, these newly formed crawling reptiles also acquired flexible skulls to swallow their prey whole. Snakes originated as a result. After that, snake diversity increased to the point that there are currently close to 4,000 different species of snakes on Earth. The study also noted that the snakes' eating habits, moving methods, and perceptions underwent significant alterations.

This becomes evident when biologists look at the various snake species that are still living today. There are pythons with such powerful bodies that they can smother their victim before using the flexible ligaments in their mouth to swallow it whole, and there are venomous snakes that can kill with a single bite.

Not to mention tree snakes that feed on snails, frog eggs, and other snakes that have evolved to burrow in search of scorpions to consume, according to the study.

The study is mostly about the characteristics of an evolutionary winner. They discovered that snakes have undergone significant evolutionary acceleration relative to lizards, enabling them to seize novel chances that other lizards could not, according to Daniel Rabosky, a University of Michigan evolutionary biologist and senior author of the study.

"Snakes evolved faster and-dare we say it-better than some other groups. They are versatile and flexible and able to specialize on prey that other groups cannot use."

According to the researchers, only snakes had experienced such "explosive diversification," even though several lizard species had, over time, taken on characteristics resembling those of snakes in their evolutionary tree.

One theory suggests the snake's rapid diversification is due to a gene that enabled rapid evolution in a way that lizards did not exhibit. The precise reasons for this exceptional capacity for adaptation and evolution are unknown.

ALSO READ: 'Godzilla' 6-Foot Monitor Lizard Invades 7/11 Convenience Store in Thailand

Evolution in Lizards

Another study followed how lizards in Puerto Rico mutated and developed new skills to expand their territories. The researchers noticed that they developed new physical features that give them an advantage in their environment.

According to the study, the crested anole (Anolis cristatellus) has evolved new scales that allow it to stick to smoother surfaces, such as windows and smooth walls in towns and cities. Their legs tend to get longer, seem stronger, and grow new scales. They can run across wide spaces without getting caught by a predator.

According to the team, genetic modifications were occurring. The Anolis cristatellus genome contains more than 30 genes linked to urbanization.

Per Kristin Winchell, a biology professor at New York University in the US, researchers may be able to forecast how an urban population will react to urbanization by merely examining genetic markers if the population evolves in tandem with physical and genomic changes.

There is no denying the versatility of lizards. Ecology & Evolution claims that because of their lengthy evolutionary history, they have acquired a wide range of abilities, including the ability to glide, swim, survive in arid environments, live high up in forest canopies, climb smooth surfaces, and race over water.