Died during hibernation: a completely new species of ancient snakes was found in the USA among volcanic ash (photo)

Paleontologists have discovered an entirely new species of ancient snake that lived in the territory of the modern state of Wyoming 38 million years ago. This unique species, named Hibernophis breithaupti, is distinguished by the fact that it hibernated, similar to some modern mammals.

The fossilized remains of four individuals of Hibernophis breithaupti were found crowded together in a hibernaculum, a small space where animals would gather to stay warm during the winter. This indicates that this species was social, which is atypical for reptiles, Newsweek writes.

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"It's really unusual for reptiles," says Michael Caldwell, a professor of paleontology at the University of Alberta and one of the study's co-authors. "Of the nearly 15,000 species of reptiles alive today, none of them hibernate the way garter snakes do."

Scientists believe that Hibernophis breithaupti, like modern garter snakes, gathered in groups to keep warm during the colder months. This behavior may have helped them survive the winter.

Unfortunately, these reptiles died in their den during a flood and were later fossilized in volcanic ash. Their fossilized remains have been preserved at a rare level of completeness, allowing researchers to study their anatomy in detail and learn more about the evolution of the boids, a family of snakes that includes Hibernophis breithaupti as well as modern Amazonian boas and scrub pythons.

"We're learning a little bit more about the evolution of boids in a broader sense," commented Caldwell. "It looks like they probably started out as relatively small snakes, which is interesting."

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