In a square-rectangle sort of way, snakes are technically lizards, but for semantics’ sake and because snakes are so distinctive, biologists separate snakes and lizards into different categories. Despite being nested within the same branch of the tree of life, legless, lengthy, and slithering snakes–capable of unhinging their jaws and delivering a venomous bite–stand out from their reptilian clade-mates. New research sheds light on just how unique snakes are, and underscores an enduring mystery.
The singularity of snakes
There are about 4,000 known, living species of snakes that make up one-eighth of all terrestrial vertebrate diversity. Snakes thrive in an amazing array of different habitats and under wildly varying conditions, as tree-climbers, burrowers, swimmers, and even gliders. No single trait can explain the origins of all that diversity, according to a study published February 22 in Science.
Instead, it all comes down to what the researchers call a “singularity of snakes.” In broad terms, a singularity is when small and unpredictable changes add up to big, unexpected outcomes. In physics, a singularity is a point in reality where the rules break down, and rapid expansion of the fabric of space-time can occur. The big bang theory posits that our entire universe emerged from such a singularity. In biology, a singularity might happen when an explosion of species stems from a series of changes clustered so tightly together as to appear instantaneous and inseparable on the order of evolutionary time.
All the many species of snakes are the result of a biological singularity event, according to the new research.
Thinking of evolution in terms of singularities is a perspective shift for a field where…
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