巴西圣保罗大学Annie S. Hsiou小组近日取得一项新成果。经过不懈努力，他们研究出最早期蛇类的大脑和生态多样性。相关论文发表在2026年7月22日出版的《自然》杂志上。

在这里，研究人员描述了一种保存非常完好的白垩纪蛇化石，来自巴西的Tametara mirim gen. et sp. nov.，代表了最早分化的茎蛇之一。高分辨率微CT扫描揭示了脑神经、内耳和大脑解剖的前所未有的细节，使迄今为止最完整的干蛇神经解剖重建成为可能。定量和定性内质分析表明，Tametara的大脑形态与其他干蛇和现存蛇都不同，揭示了蛇进化过程中早期神经解剖学上的巨大差异——可能还有感觉功能。来自端脑形状和骨骼微观结构的独立证据表明Tametara是一种化石生活方式，而另一种茎蛇Dinilysia则是非化石生活方式。这些结果表明，主要的生态转变发生在蛇的进化早期，已知的茎类并不代表冠蛇的祖先条件。早期蛇的进化涉及栖息地主题和感觉生态的复杂变化，揭示了比以前认为的更大的生态和神经解剖学多样性。

研究人员表示，由于早期化石记录极其稀少，以及对化石生态学的相互矛盾的解释，了解蛇的生态起源一直是一个长达一个世纪的挑战。

附：英文原文

Title: Exceptional brain and ecological diversity in the earliest snakes

Author: Simes, Tiago R., Sobral, Gabriela, Macr, Simone, Ebel, Roy, Fachini, Thiago S., Martinelli, Agustn G., Nava, William R., Paixo, Giovanna M. X., Chiappe, Luis M., Di-Po, Nicolas, Hsiou, Annie S.

Issue&Volume: 2026-07-22

Abstract: Understanding the ecological origin of snakes has remained a century-old challenge1,2, hindered by an extremely sparse early fossil record and conflicting interpretations of fossil ecologies. Here we describe an exceptionally preserved Cretaceous fossil snake, Tametara mirim gen. et sp. nov., from Brazil, representing one of the earliest-diverging stem snakes. High-resolution micro-CT scans reveal unprecedented details of cranial nerves, inner ear and brain anatomy, enabling the most integrated reconstruction of stem snake neuroanatomy to date. Quantitative and qualitative endocast analyses demonstrate that Tametara had a brain morphology distinct from both other stem and extant snakes, revealing substantial early neuroanatomical disparity—and probably sensory functions—in snake evolution. Independent evidence from telencephalon shape and bone microstructure converges on a fossorial lifestyle for Tametara and non-fossorial for another stem snake: Dinilysia. These results indicate that major ecological transitions occurred early in snake evolution, and that known stem species do not represent the ancestral condition of crown snakes. Early snake evolution thus involved complex shifts in habitat use and sensory ecology, revealing greater ecological and neuroanatomical diversity than previously thought.

DOI: 10.1038/s41586-026-10809-9

Source: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-026-10809-9

期刊信息

Nature：《自然》，创刊于1869年。隶属于施普林格·自然出版集团，最新IF：69.504

官方网址：http://www.nature.com/

投稿链接：http://www.nature.com/authors/submit_manuscript.html