Tiny Lizard Unlocks Evolution Clues

Scientists have recently discovered a 240 million year-old lizard! The Megachirella wachtleri is only 3 inches long, but it is the ancestor of all living lizards and snakes! The Triassic period fossil was found in the Dolomite mountains in Italy 15 years ago, but new technology has revealed the lizard’s monumental importance in understanding their evolution.

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Green Blooded New Guinea Skinks

Everyone knows blood is red, right? Not if you’re a New Guinea skink! The lizards have bright green blood! Their blood contains high levels of biliverdin, a highly toxic bile pigment. The substance may help protect the skinks from blood parasites that carry malaria. Unfortunately, it doesn’t bother the birds and snakes that eat skinks!

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