{"id":587183,"date":"2026-04-16T05:50:22","date_gmt":"2026-04-16T05:50:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/587183\/"},"modified":"2026-04-16T05:50:22","modified_gmt":"2026-04-16T05:50:22","slug":"scientists-unearth-a-fossil-snake-so-perfectly-preserved-it-may-have-been-caught-sleeping","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/587183\/","title":{"rendered":"Scientists Unearth a Fossil Snake So Perfectly Preserved, It May Have Been Caught Sleeping"},"content":{"rendered":"

A newly described fossil snake species from Wyoming has been identified as a distinct genus, repositioning scientists\u2019 understanding of where boa-like snakes first evolved. The specimens, preserved together in what researchers believe may be a 34-million-year-old communal burrow, could represent the oldest known evidence of group hibernation behavior in snakes.<\/p>\n

Paleontologists studying fossil material from Wyoming\u2019s White River Formation have formally identified a previously unknown snake species, named Hibernophis breithaupti, from four nearly complete and articulated specimens dating to the early Oligocene epoch. The find is notable partly for what the fossils reveal about snake anatomy, and partly for the circumstances in which they were preserved, curled together in what researchers describe as a likely ancient burrow.<\/p>\n

Most fossil snakes are known only from isolated vertebrae, which limits how much taxonomic or behavioral information can be extracted. In this case, according to the study published in the Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society, researchers were able to examine skulls, jaws, and postcranial material in substantial detail, allowing them to establish a new genus rather than assign the specimens to existing, poorly defined categories.<\/p>\n

A More Complex Evolutionary Picture<\/p>\n

Phylogenetic analysis places Hibernophis breithaupti as an early member of Booidea, the broader group that includes modern boas and pythons, and possibly at the base of the entire lineage, predating the divergence of its major constituent families. The research was co-led by Michael Caldwell<\/a> of the University of Alberta alongside his former graduate student Jasmine Croghan<\/a>, with collaborators from Australia and Brazil.<\/p>\n

\"FossilFossil snake specimens on matrix block, Wyoming (Oligocene) \u00a9Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society<\/p>\n

The fossils had been held at the University of Wyoming since their collection in 1976, and had previously been assigned, without formal morphological study, to the vertebral form genera Ogmophis and Calamagras, two historically recognized but taxonomically contested North American fossil snake groups. A detailed comparison conducted for the new study found that the specimens differ from both in multiple anatomical respects, including the shape of the neural spine, the structure of the zygosphene margin, and features of the parabasisphenoid, supporting their classification as a distinct taxon.<\/p>\n

The snake\u2019s placement in the evolutionary tree also carries geographic implications. Before colubroid snakes rose to ecological dominance in North America during the middle Miocene, constricting snakes were a significant component of the continent\u2019s fauna. The new species, according to the study<\/a>\u2018s authors, supports the possibility that the Americas played a more substantial role in the early diversification of boa-like snakes than was previously assumed.<\/p>\n

Evidence of an Ancient Hibernaculum<\/p>\n

Three of the four specimens were recovered from a single block of rock in Converse County, Wyoming. Two were visible on the surface, while a third was identified only through CT scanning, concealed beneath the other two. A fourth specimen came from a nearby site within the same geological formation. The arrangement of the animals, preserved together in a posture consistent with a sheltered retreat, led the original collectors in 1986 to suggest the block might represent a fossil <\/a>hibernaculum, a site where snakes gather to overwinter.<\/p>\n

\"PhylogeneticPhylogenetic placement of Hibernophis breithaupti within Booidea (Bayesian and parsimony analyses) \u00a9Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society<\/p>\n

That interpretation has been carried forward and examined more carefully in the new study. If accurate, it would constitute the oldest known instance of communal wintering behavior in snakes, pushing the evolutionary origins of such behavior back tens of millions of years. \u201cModern garter snakes are famous for gathering by the thousands to hibernate together in dens and burrows,\u201d Caldwell noted, describing the behavior as a means of conserving heat through collective body mass. \u201cIt\u2019s fascinating to see possible evidence of such social behavior or hibernation dating back 34 million years.\u201d<\/p>\n

The authors are careful to note that direct behavioral evidence cannot be extracted from fossil preservation alone, and that the communal arrangement, while consistent with a hibernaculum, cannot be conclusively confirmed. Snakes, as ectothermic animals, do not hibernate in the physiological sense that mammals do; they enter a state known as brumation<\/a>, during which metabolism slows and activity ceases in response to falling temperatures.<\/p>\n

What the specimens do confirm is that Hibernophis breithaupti was a small, likely burrowing snake occupying an ancient North American landscape that bore little resemblance to today\u2019s ecosystems, and that it occupied a pivotal position in the early history of one of the world\u2019s most diverse reptile lineages.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A newly described fossil snake species from Wyoming has been identified as a distinct genus, repositioning scientists\u2019 understanding…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":587184,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[32],"tags":[79],"class_list":{"0":"post-587183","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-science","8":"tag-science"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/587183","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=587183"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/587183\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/587184"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=587183"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=587183"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=587183"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}