‘Jesus lizard’ walked on water 48 mn years ago

The species identified in the fossil was named Babibasiliscus alxi, which is one of the oldest members of the Jesus Lizard group. Jack Conrad, the study’s author and resident research associate of vertebrate paleontology at the American Museum of Natural History, named the lizard “Babibasiliscus alxi”.

The fossil was discovered in Bridger Formation, a geological formation in Wyoming. According to a report from the Washington Post, the discovery could have been the fossil of the infamous ‘Jesus lizard.’.

The agile reptile, described in the journal PLOS ONE, provides clues on how Jesus lizards evolved, and what their early habitats were like.

But scientists from the USA State of Wyoming have discovered and identified a 48-million-year-old fossil of “Jesus Lizard”.

Conrad believes that the prehistoric Jesus lizard was probably a lot like the ones today – using its ability to walk on water mainly as a technique to avoid predators. Yes, a tropical Wyoming.

As per the researchers, the Jesus lizard was active during the day and used to spend majority of his time in trees. It dined on plants, snakes, fish, insects, and other lizards with its tiny but well-adapted teeth.

In spite of its small size, the “Jesus Lizard” could very well eat larger preys, due to its big cheekbone structure. It had a bone ridge that would have made it look constantly mad (much like a bald eagle) but would have shaded its eyes from the sun, Conrad said.

Modern-day Jesus lizards live in warm regions of Central and North America, from Columbia up through central Mexico. Members of different plants, animals and other living organisms presently confined to tropical and subtropical areas are mostly found in fossil records at mid-to-high latitudes from warm eras in Earth history, Eureka Alert! reported.

This group has later on given birth to the modern species of reptiles we know today, including iguanas and chameleons.

In a press release, Jack Conrad, co-author and assistant professor of anatomy at the NYIT College of Osteopathic Medicine, explained a bit about their findings, “Given our current period of global climate fluctuation, looking to the fossil record offers an important opportunity to observe what is possible, and may give us an idea of what to expect from our dynamic Earth”.