Tametara, new burrowing snake from Cretaceous of Brazil (free pdf)
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Ben Creisler
Jul 22, 2026, 1:52:19 PM (19 hours ago) Jul 22
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Ben Creisler
Tametara mirim gen. et sp. nov.
Tiago R. Simões, Gabriela Sobral, Simone Macrì, Roy Ebel, Thiago S. Fachini, Agustín G. Martinelli, William R. Nava, Giovanna M. X. Paixão, Luis M. Chiappe, Nicolas Di-Poï & Annie S. Hsiou (2026)
Exceptional brain and ecological diversity in the earliest snakes
Nature (advance online publication)
doi: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-026-10809-9
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-026-10809-9
Understanding the ecological origin of snakes has remained a century-old challenge, hindered by an extremely sparse early fossil record and conflicting interpretations of fossil ecologies. Here we describe an exceptionally preserved Cretaceous fossil snake, Tametara mirim gen. et sp. nov., from Brazil, representing one of the earliest-diverging stem snakes. High-resolution micro-CT scans reveal unprecedented details of cranial nerves, inner ear and brain anatomy, enabling the most integrated reconstruction of stem snake neuroanatomy to date. Quantitative and qualitative endocast analyses demonstrate that Tametara had a brain morphology distinct from both other stem and extant snakes, revealing substantial early neuroanatomical disparity—and probably sensory functions—in snake evolution. Independent evidence from telencephalon shape and bone microstructure converges on a fossorial lifestyle for Tametara and non-fossorial for another stem snake: Dinilysia. These results indicate that major ecological transitions occurred early in snake evolution, and that known stem species do not represent the ancestral condition of crown snakes. Early snake evolution thus involved complex shifts in habitat use and sensory ecology, revealing greater ecological and neuroanatomical diversity than previously thought.
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News:
A rare 3-D snake fossil is ssspilling sssecrets of its unusual lifestyle
The snake’s skull anatomy suggests it lived underground, unlike other early snakes
A new paper:
Free pdf:
Tametara mirim gen. et sp. nov.
Tiago R. Simões, Gabriela Sobral, Simone Macrì, Roy Ebel, Thiago S. Fachini, Agustín G. Martinelli, William R. Nava, Giovanna M. X. Paixão, Luis M. Chiappe, Nicolas Di-Poï & Annie S. Hsiou (2026)
Exceptional brain and ecological diversity in the earliest snakes
Nature (advance online publication)
doi: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-026-10809-9
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-026-10809-9
Understanding the ecological origin of snakes has remained a century-old challenge, hindered by an extremely sparse early fossil record and conflicting interpretations of fossil ecologies. Here we describe an exceptionally preserved Cretaceous fossil snake, Tametara mirim gen. et sp. nov., from Brazil, representing one of the earliest-diverging stem snakes. High-resolution micro-CT scans reveal unprecedented details of cranial nerves, inner ear and brain anatomy, enabling the most integrated reconstruction of stem snake neuroanatomy to date. Quantitative and qualitative endocast analyses demonstrate that Tametara had a brain morphology distinct from both other stem and extant snakes, revealing substantial early neuroanatomical disparity—and probably sensory functions—in snake evolution. Independent evidence from telencephalon shape and bone microstructure converges on a fossorial lifestyle for Tametara and non-fossorial for another stem snake: Dinilysia. These results indicate that major ecological transitions occurred early in snake evolution, and that known stem species do not represent the ancestral condition of crown snakes. Early snake evolution thus involved complex shifts in habitat use and sensory ecology, revealing greater ecological and neuroanatomical diversity than previously thought.
****
News:
A rare 3-D snake fossil is ssspilling sssecrets of its unusual lifestyle
The snake’s skull anatomy suggests it lived underground, unlike other early snakes
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