Skin colour of 10 million-year-old snake discovered by UCC research team

The skin colours of a Spanish snake, dated to be 10 million-year-old, has been discovered by scientists at University College Cork using its colourless fossil remains.

Led by Dr Maria McNamara, the research team have found that some fossils can retain evidence of their skin colours depending on the conditions in which they are fossilised.

This discovery will now aid research into the the evolution and function of colour in animals.