Early Snakes Were Nocturnal, Had Tiny Hindlimbs 

An in-depth analysis of fossils, genes, and the anatomy of 73 different species of snakes and lizards has discovered that slithering serpents first evolved on land, not in the sea, and were actually nocturnal predators that had tiny hindlimbs, complete with ankles and toes.

The analysis, conducted by a team led by Yale University researchers and detailed in a paper published Wednesday in the journal BMC Evolutionary Biology, concluded that the creatures most likely emerged from the warm, forested ecosystems of the Southern Hemisphere around 128 million years ago, helping settle a longstanding debate about their origins.

While snakes are incredibly diverse, with more than 3,400 species currently living in an array of different types of habitats, the secrets of their evolution and the appearance of their ancestors had long remained a mystery, lead author Allison Hsiang, a postgraduate associate in the university’s department of geology and geophysics, explained in a statement.

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Dolphins Have A Social Network, Just Like Humans 

They might not be using their flippers to tweet on a touchscreen, but dolphins have a highly developed social structure and, just as humans do, they love to network. A long term study of Florida dolphins shows these networks are shaped by an individual’s ranging patterns and by social processes including “preference and avoidance behavior” – the equivalent of hitting the “like” button or blocking another individual.

Leaving the temporary lapse into anthropomorphism behind, this is a unique glimpse into dolphin society that helps us understand how dolphins organize themselves, who they interact with, and who they avoid, as well as when and where. It gives scientists and resource managers the information about how dolphin populations perceive and use their environment. It also helps explain how social networks influence information transfer and how they could affect breeding behavior and disease transmission.

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