Ancient Guj snake fed on baby dinosaurs?

NEW DELHI: The biggest enemy of a100-tonne Titanosaur —one of the biggest dinosaurs to walk this earth—was a 11-ft prehistoric slithering snake. For the first time ever,scientists have confirmed that ancient snakes in India fed on youngdinosaurs.A 67-million-year-old fossil of a gigantic snake foundcoiled around a dinosaur egg in the village of Dholi Dungri in Virpur taluka inGujarat’s Kheda district has helped an international palaeontological teamled by the University of Michigan’s Jeff Wilson and Geological Survey ofIndia’s Dhananjay Mohabey to confirm this unusual feedingbehaviour.The team published its discovery online on Tuesday in thejournal PLoS Biology.The scientists said, “The remains of anearly complete snake were found preserved in the nest of a sauropoddinosaur, adults of which are the largest animals known to have walked theearth. The snake was coiled around a recently hatched egg adjacent to ahatchling sauropod.” The new snake was named Sanajehindicus.In 1987, Mohabey first found the fossil and recogniseddinosaur eggshell and limb bones but was unable to fully interpret thespecimen. In 2001, Wilson visited Mohabey and was astonished when he examinedthe specimen. “I saw the characteristic vertebral locking mechanism ofsnakes alongside dinosaur eggshell and larger bones, and I knew it was anextraordinary specimen, but I also knew we needed to develop it further,”Wilson said.