It is an unlikely discovery, which advances science. A forgotten lizard fossil has been rediscovered in a drawer at London’s Natural History Museum. Collected in the 1950s by fossil hunter Pamela L. Robinson, it was reportedly classified and stored by mistake. The Guardian.
The fossil, which comes from a small lizard with sharp teeth, has allowed scientists to refine their knowledge of the species. The prehistoric animal, about 25 centimeters long, lived 202 million years ago and was renamed Cryptovaranoides microlanius.
The oldest specimen ever discovered
Thanks to current technology, the researchers were able to study the skeleton of the animal in detail, revealing that it belongs to the group of squamous or saurophids. This group includes scaled tetrapod vertebrates, such as lizards or snakes.
Certain characteristics of modern lizards have been identified, such as the skeleton at the back of the skull that allows great mobility to open the mouth.
The accidentally rediscovered fossil is the oldest squamous specimen ever discovered, surpassing previously known fossils by 34 million years.
According to researchers from the University of Bristol, the discovery will help to understand the evolution of life on Earth and the understanding of species.
Source: BFM TV
