The asteroid that collided with Earth wiped out the dinosaurs 65.5 million years ago also led to the extreme devastation of snake and lizard species, including the extinction of a lizard species that has just been identified by American university scientists. from Yale and Harvard and christenedObamadon gracilis. This is clear from a new research published in the magazinePNASin which it is estimated that83 percent of all species of snakes and lizards died after the impact of that asteroid.
“Until now, it was thought that the impact of the asteroid on the Yucatan Peninsula had affected the dinosaurs, but the truth is that it wreaked havoc on the entire ecosystem, especially attacking reptiles,” says Nicholas R. Longrich, a researcher at the Department of Geology and Geophysics from Yale University and co-author of the work. Their conclusions are based on a detailed examination of fossils collected in North America, over a large area ranging from New Mexico in the south to Alberta, Canada in the north. Thus they found, for example, the remains ofa snake the size of a boa constrictor, big enough to eat dinosaur eggs, and even young dinosaurs. There was alsoreptiles similar to current iguanas, and as well as numerous carnivorous lizards. “Lizards and snakes rivaled dinosaurs in terms of diversity; so much so thatwe should talk about the “Age of Lizards” instead of the “Age of Dinosaurs”“, Longrich clarifies.
While re-evaluating previously collected fossils, scientists came across the jaws of an unnamed species and named itObamadon gracilis, which means “tooth” (odon) and slim” (gracilis). It belonged to the Polyglyphanodontia family, and was a 12-inch tall lizard with fine teeth, which probably ate insects.
