[Animals] They find the 'grandfather of reptiles', the species that gave rise to cold-blooded animals

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On an island northwest of Scotland, the 'grandfather of reptiles' has been found: the common ancestor of more than 10,000 living scaly species.
Just as there is a 'historical Adam' -the common ancestor of all contemporary human beings-, a team of scientists seems to have found the origin of thousands of scaly species. 170 million years ago, on the current Scottish island of Skye, lived the oldest relative of the cold-blooded species: the "grandfather of all reptiles". According to the fossils found, this lizard barely measured 6 centimeters. This is what we know about it.

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"Evolution in Action"
The 'grandfather of reptiles' was not an imposing tyrannosaurus, nor a marine species with huge jaws. On the contrary, according to the fossils found in Scotland, it was barely 6 centimeters.

According to the team of researchers from the University of Warsaw, more than 10,000 species alive today descend from Bellairsia gracilis, from the Middle Jurassic period of Scotland. Colloquially, this prehistoric species has been referred to as 'the grandfather of reptiles', because it is their common ancestor.

It is estimated that about 240 million years ago, this animal separated from its closest living relative: the Sphenodon. According to the study, recently published in Nature, it was one of the smallest animals that inhabited Skye back then:

"OUR FINDINGS INDICATE THAT THE SQUAMOUS-LIKE FUNCTIONAL CHARACTERISTICS OF THE SUSPENSORY, SKULL CASE, AND SHOULDER GIRDLE PRECEDED THE ORIGIN OF THEIR PALATINE AND VERTEBRAL FEATURES AND INDICATE THE PRESENCE OF ADVANCED STEM-SQUAMOUS AS PERSISTENT COMPONENTS OF TERRESTRIAL ASSEMBLIES UNTIL AT LEAST THE MIDDLE OF THE CRETACEOUS PERIOD, WRITE THE AUTHORS.

Scientists deduced these features from its skeleton, which was found almost complete on the island. Only the snout and tail are missing from the remains, paleontologists explain. However, it remains an exceptional case of bone reconstruction.

In this regard, Mateusz Tałanda stated that the opportunity to "work with such complete and well-preserved fossils" rarely arises. Therefore, the remains of the 'grandfather of reptiles' are a unique example that "allows us to see evolution in action", concludes the specialist.

https://www.ngenespanol.com/animales/el-abuelo-de-los-reptiles-es-el-ancestro-comun-de-mas-de-10-mil-especies-escamosas/