Researchers discover 110-million-year-old lizard in amber (video)

Watch the video: Incredible find – researchers discover 110-million-year-old lizard in amber.

What an incredible find:

Researchers have discovered a 110-million-year-old lizard in tree sap.

The scientists at Sam Houston State University found the animal in a lump of amber.

Finding place is Myanmar, 100 kilometers from the famous amber mines in Hukawng.

The lizard is well preserved and thus gives insight into the life of the reptile 110 million years ago:

“We had the rare opportunity to examine the articulated skeleton, but also to describe the external appearance of the lizard.” dr Juan Daza from Sam Houston State University

Based on the find, the researchers are working on a reconstruction of the animal. This is what the reptile is said to have looked like 110 million years ago.

The reptile is still a juvenile at the time of its death.

The young age could explain why the reptile succumbed to the resin of the tree.

The researchers are dubbing the particular find “Retinosaurus Hkamtiensis” — meaning “Hkamti amber lizard.”

They place the lizard in the skink lizard family, which also includes night lizards.

Of the lizards alive today, the night lizards appear to be the ones most similar to the find.

The interesting thing: Today, night lizards only live in North and Central America – that is, far from Southeast Asia. But how did they get there?

“The ancestors of Retinosaurus may have survived on these islands for about 50 million years, which would explain their presence here while another radiation migrated to North America.” dr Juan Daza from Sam Houston State University

One thing is certain: the 110 million-year-old sensational find gives exciting insights into a time long before us.

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