Remarkable fossils push back snake origins by 65 million years

An artist rendering from oldest-known snake fossils shows Paleo reconstructions of three Jurassic to Lower Cretaceous snakes: Portugalophis lignites from Upper Jurassic period in a ginko tree from the coal swamp deposits at Guimarota, Portugal (top left); Diablophis gilmorei from Upper Jurassic period, hiding in a ceratosaur skull from the Morrison Formation in Fruita, Colorado (top right) and Parviraptor estesi from Upper Jurassic/Lower Cretaceous period swimming in a freshwater lake with snails and algae from the Purbeck Limestone, Swanage, England (bottom center).

Snakes have been slithering on Earth far longer than anyone ever realized.