Cobras, mambas, coral and sea snakes, other elapids emerged from Asia & spread worldwide: Study

Sub: Sci

Sec: Species in news

Evolution of Venomous Snakes:

Some of the world’s most venomous snakes, such as cobras, mambas, coral snakes, and sea snakes, evolved in Asia before spreading globally.
Elapoidea, a snake superfamily with over 700 species, is found in tropical and subtropical regions worldwide and in marine habitats of the Indian and Pacific Oceans.
The origin of elapids has been debated, with earlier studies suggesting Africa as their origin, but new research supports an Asian origin.

New Study on Snake Origins:

A study titled “Out of Asia” published on August 7 in the Royal Society Open Science suggests that elapids originated in Asia.
Researchers sampled 66 individuals from 65 species using DNA from preserved tissue samples and previously assembled genomes.
The study indicates four distinct “Out of Asia” colonization events where elapids spread into Africa.

Snake Migration and Colonization

The study found that the “Afro-Malagasy group,” comprising 330 species, crossed into Africa around 24.4-37.5 million years ago.
An ancestor of African cobras (genera Aspidelaps, Hemachatus, Naja, Pseudohaje and Walterinnesia) crossed into Africa during the early and middle Miocene (12.5-23.9 million years ago).
African garter snakes and mambas may have also crossed into Africa around 25.6 and 18.9 million years ago, respectively.

Expansion and Colonization Pathways

Cobras likely dispersed into Africa when the Gomphotherium land bridge formed during the collision of Africa and Eurasia (12.5-23 Ma).
Elapids may have spread to North America via the Bering Land Bridge, though no snake fossils have been found in this region yet.
The study also supports the colonization of Australasia from Asia by an elapoid sublineage, likely through trans-oceanic dispersal or island-hopping.