Aug 15, 2022
Slavoia darevskii was a lizard that lived in what is now Mongolia and Kazakhstan during the Late Cretaceous, about 85-70 million years ago.
Around 12cm long ~(4.75"), it had a compact skull, small eyes, a short neck, shovel-like hands, an elongated body and slightly reduced hind limbs – all features that indicate it was a burrowing animal, digging tunnels and feeding on underground invertebrates.
Its exact relationships are uncertain, but recent studies have suggested it was an early amphisbaenian, representing a point in the group's evolution before the full loss of their legs and the development of their extremely long worm-like shape.
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