Editing Macroevolution (section)

=== Limb loss in lizards and snakes ===
{{main|Limbless vertebrates}}
[[File:Vine-thicket Fine-lined Slider (Lerista cinerea).jpg|thumb|Limbloss in lizards can be observed in the genus ''[[Lerista]]'' which shows many intermediary steps with increasing loss of digits and toes. The species shown here, ''[[Lerista cinerea]]'', has no digits and only 1 toe left.]]
[[Snake]]s evolved from [[lizard]]s. [[Phylogenetics|Phylogenetic]] analysis shows that snakes are actually nested within the [[phylogenetic tree]] of lizards, demonstrating that they have a common ancestor.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Streicher |first1=Jeffrey W. |last2=Wiens |first2=John J. |date=2017-09-30 |title=Phylogenomic analyses of more than 4000 nuclear loci resolve the origin of snakes among lizard families |journal=Biology Letters |volume=13 |issue=9 |pages=20170393 |doi=10.1098/rsbl.2017.0393 |pmc=5627172 |pmid=28904179}}</ref> This split happened about 180 million years ago and several intermediary [[fossil]]s are known to document the origin. In fact, limbs have been lost in numerous clades of [[reptile]]s, and there are cases of recent [[Limbless vertebrate|limb loss]]. For instance, the [[skink]] genus ''[[Lerista]]'' has lost limbs in multiple cases, with all possible intermediary steps, that is, there are species which have fully developed limbs, shorter limbs with 5, 4, 3, 2, 1 or no toes at all.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Skinner |first1=Adam |last2=Lee |first2=Michael SY |last3=Hutchinson |first3=Mark N |date=2008 |title=Rapid and repeated limb loss in a clade of scincid lizards |journal=BMC Evolutionary Biology |language=en |volume=8 |issue=1 |pages=310 |doi=10.1186/1471-2148-8-310 |issn=1471-2148 |pmc=2596130 |pmid=19014443 |doi-access=free |bibcode=2008BMCEE...8..310S }}</ref>