Thanksgiving will be here sooner than you want to believe, and while the turducken has become a modern take on the more traditional turkey, a prehistoric fossil found in Germany proves the idea isn’t so original after all, but this 3-in-1 combo is more than likely something you and your guests would not welcome to the table.
For paleontologists, finding insight into the eating habits of creatures that roamed this earth long before us humans became the rulers of the land, is not an everyday occurrence. In fact, its rare to ever happen in one’s lifetime in the field. So when researchers digging at Germany’s Messel Pit, a prehistoric volcanic lake, found a fossil of an insect inside of a lizard inside a snake, it was quite the find.
By unearthing this rare fossil, scientists have been able to gain insight into 48-million year old eating habits, discovering connections to its believed to be modern-day cousins.
Scientists believe the snake shares a lineage with the modern boa constrictor, while the lizard appears to be an extinct species of stem-basilisk. As for the bug? There were not enough remains to be able to classify it.
Germany’s Messel Pit is a popular spot for fossil hunters, with some of the prior finds including a bat, horse and even two turtles fossilized in the middle of making love… go turtles!
