Darwin Day 2022

NABT & NCSE Darwin Day Webinar

Squamate Speciation: 
How Snakes Lost Their Legs but Won the Race

Snakes are really odd, really successful kinds of lizards. They are so successful and so unusual that most people don’t even think they are lizards. The origin of snakes has led to a deep well of questions: When and why did they lose their limbs? Why don’t snakes have eyelids? What’s up with all the tongue flicking?

NABT and NCSE held a special encore presentation of the popular "Squamate Speciation Symposium" that was presented during the 2021 NABT Conference in Atlanta. This session will explore the origins of limblessness, the discovery of the largest snake of all time, Titanoboa cerrejonensis, and how 3D imaging of museum specimens opens up a whole new world of opportunities for scientists and educators alike.

This webinar was presented by:

• Edward L. Stanley, oVert program/Florida Museum, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL
• Rebecca Brewer, Troy High School, NCSE Teacher Ambassador, Troy, MI
• Lin Andrews, Director of Teacher Support, NCSE, Oakland, CA

Webinar Resources:

• NCSE Slides
• Stanley Slides
• NCSE Evolution Lesson Set One Teacher Resources
• NCSE Classroom Resources
• OvERT
• MorphoSource
• SketchFab Blackburn Lab (Florida Museum collection)