This is why snakes don't have legs

Few people know that snakes used to have full legs like many other species, but this part has disappeared. Why?

Snakes have existed long before humans appeared and they existed to this day with a perfect adaptation.

But do you know that snakes used to have full legs like many other species, but this part has gradually disappeared. And the mystery of why snakes lose their legs still makes scientists scare for answers.

Snakes lost their limbs more than 100 million years ago, before the T-Rex reigned over Earth for 35 million years.

However, recent research by Swiss scientists and research organizations in California reveals new information.Snakes lost their limbs more than 100 million years ago, before the T-Rex reigned over Earth for 35 million years.

And according to experts, it is the genetic changes , DNA that causes snakes to lose their legs. Specifically, the scientists inserted snake DNA into mice and found a missing piece of DNA.

The main author of the study - Axel VISEL, a geneticist at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory in California, said: "The missing DNA contains many essential ingredients in developing hands and feet in humans and animals.

Basically, all animals have leg bones . But in snakes, these components disappear. This may be one of the special evolutionary steps that occur in snakes, when most other mammals and reptiles, they can form limbs. "

Dr. Visel and his team decided to further study the genome of the Boa snake, python and found that they once owned a small pair of legs, buried deep in their muscles.

In the genome, the researchers focused specifically on the gene called Sonic hedgehog . When analyzing, they found a piece of DNA called the polarized activity zone (ZRS) - mutated.

If the snake ZRS test is inserted, the anterior limb and posterior part of the rat are severely shortened.

Experts try to insert finned fish ZRS into mice, they develop normal limbs. However, when inserting the snake's ZRS, saw the part of the anterior and posterior part of the mouse severely shortened. This shows that DNA is responsible for changing the shape of snakes.

Comparing a few other sets of genes, experts say, ZRS is the reason why snakes lose their legs.
Although the mystery has been revealed, Dr. Visel and his colleagues still want to learn more about the evolution of this snake. Because he said, there are still more interesting mysteries ahead.