A century of anatomical and phylogenetic studies have established that snakes evolved from lizards1,2, these two groups forming together one of the most-specious clades of terrestrial vertebrates—the squamate reptiles.
What came first snake or lizard?
Lizards evolved first. HIRSHON: He says the first lizard fossils are from 220 million years ago. Another million years after that, one type of lizard started losing its legs and became the snake.
What did the lizard evolve from?
Squamata (“scaly”) arose in the late Permian; extant species include lizards and snakes. They are most closely-related to tuataras; both groups evolved from a lepidosaurian ancestor. Squamata is the largest extant clade of reptiles.
