Snake Fossil with Four Legs Puzzles Paleontologists

Another fossil of snakes with legs has been found. At first, the response might be, "Big deal", until people realize that the critter had four legs. This has received attention in both creationist and secular circles, especially since it's causing slime-to-snake evolutionists some consternation and dispute.


The fossil of a 4-legged snake is causing confusion among evolutionary paleontologists. They have several disagreements, and the fossil does not fit well with their assumptions.
The "image Generator" picture does not do justice to French newscaster Melissa Theuriau. This one is more flattering.
The dispute is whether or not the fossil is that of a snake. It has many snake features, but also not snake features. Although it had legs, don't get it fitted for cowboy boots because those legs weren't walking legs, but appear to be used for grasping. It is considered a terrestrial snake, not a marine one, which adds to difficulties for evolutionists to place it in the proper alleged transitional sequence. But they can't find an evolutionary order for it because snakes were created, they didn't evolve.
The four short legs on the 20 cm (7.8 in) snake-like fossil from Brazil’s Crato formation remained unnoticed in Germany’s Museum Solnhofen until spotted by University of Portsmouth paleontologist David Martill during a field trip. “The fossil was part of a larger exhibition of fossils from the Cretaceous period,” Martill says. “It was clear that no-one had appreciated its importance, but when I saw it I knew it was an incredibly significant specimen.”

Martill recruited Helmut Tischlinger and Nicholas Longrich to help study the fossil. “The preservation of the little snake is absolutely exquisite,” Tischlinger says. “The skeleton is fully articulated. Details of the bones are clearly visible and impressions of soft tissues such as scales and the trachea are preserved.” Longrich adds, “It is a perfect little snake, except it has these little arms and legs, and they have these strange long fingers and toes.”

Their photographs and description recently appeared in Science. So did their evolutionary conclusions.
To read the rest of the article, click on "Four-Legged Snake Fossil Found in Museum." In addition, you might want to supplement your knowledge by heading over to "Snakes with Legs?" and "A four-legged fossil snake: A serpentine version of Archaeopteryx?" There are follow-ups at "Four-Legged Snake Fossil Still Disputed" and the latest, "Four-Legged Snake in the News Again."