The oldest chameleon was crawling through the ancient tropics of present-day Myanmar when it succumbed to the resin of a coniferous tree. Over time, the resin ended up fossilized in amber, leaving the lizard in a perfect state of preservation. Today, a team of scientists from the University of Florida (USA) has revealed their find 100 million years later. It is undoubtedly the oldest chameleon in the world.
The current specimen is up to 78 million years older than the one known so far. And they found not only this chameleon but also 11 other older fossil lizards (including geckos) also fossilized in amber. They were discovered in a mine a few decades ago, but until relatively recently experts had not had the opportunity to analyze them.
“These fossils tell us a lot about the extraordinary diversity of lizards in ancient tropical forests. The fossil record is sparse, as lizard skin and fragile bones generally do not guarantee protection, especially in the tropics, making new amber fossils a very rare and unique open window to a period. critical of diversification, ”explains study co-author Edward Stanley.
The new species will be named and described in a future study. Fortunately out of the dozen fossils, three of them, the chameleon, a gecko and an archaic lizard, are extremely well preserved.
Thanks to the technique of computed X-ray microtomography ( micro-CT) , which allows the formation of 3D X-ray images, scientists were able to identify what is already the oldest chameleon in the world.
“It was amazing. Usually we have a leg or other small part preserved in amber, but these are whole specimens, even with perfectly intact color scales, ”says Stanley.
The study has been published in the journal Science Advances.
