Description

It's so...tiny! Believe it or not, that's a complete skull. It belonged to a legless lizard called an amphisbaenian, which lived in Nebraska around 33 million years ago. The nose is on the left size of the image; can you find where the eyes would have been? Amphisbaenians (also known as worm lizards, because they superficially look like earthworms) are still around today. Within the United States, they're currently only found in Florida. Fossil specimens like ours show how the group's distribution expanded and contracted in response to regional and global climate change. What do you think the fossil amphisbaenian says about the climate of ancient Nebraska? RAM 7766, Hyporhina antiquaa, Sioux County, Nebraska. #fossil