Meet The Oldest Snake Ever Found

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Eophis underwoodi is the oldest known snake fossil, dating back to about 167 million years ago

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The fossil was found in a quarry near Oxford, England. It measured just 25 cm

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It was comparable in size to modern threadsnakes, a group that includes the smallest known snake species

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Eophis is thought to have lived in swamps, hunting tiny fish, insects, and tadpoles

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Described in 2015, it's also believed the snake had tiny hind limbs, like many other ancient snakes

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Prior to 2015, the oldest known fossil snakes were 100 million years old

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The discovery of Eophis extended the known geological range of snakes by more than 60 million years

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It suggests they may have originated at a similar time to most other major groups of scaly reptiles

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