Over a hundred million years ago, snakes could walk with their legs. That was until a trio of genetic tweaks has since disabled snakes from walking.
Snake lover and YouTuber Allen Pan is well-aware of this and decided that he wants his beloved pet snake to be able to walk again using robotic legs!
"Awesome New Cyborg Legs"
"When any other animal has deformed legs, humanity comes together to spit in God's face, and we build that animal awesome new cyborg legs," Pan said in his YouTube video titled "giving snakes their legs back."
Pan said nobody loves snakes enough to give them robotic legs except him.
The YouTuber then took a bizarre route from a pet store to study the movements of lizards to a local snake breeder's home, where he could test out a real prosthetic for snakes.
Pan chose a 2.0 version of the exoskeleton with four legs - two in front and two in back, similar to the Western three-toed skink, a lizard with four tiny legs. He also attached a long tube that snakes could easily enter and exit from as they pleased.
He also brought up an intriguing 2014 study in the video, which revealed that snake cells were originally meant to develop into a snake's two hind legs but instead, they were recruited to create a paired external penis or hemipenes.
Snake lover and YouTuber Allen Pan have created cyborg legs for his pet snake so he can walk. It is believed that snakes used to have legs millions of years ago and Pan wants to bring them back through his new invention.
Is There A Four-Legged Snake That Ever Existed?
According to ScienceAlert, a four-legged snake on Earth has not yet been discovered. In 2015, a fossil that was thought to be a four-legged snake turned out to be a lizard.
However, a fossil of a two-legged snake has been discovered. Its back legs are robust, dating back about 95 million years, as noted by ScienceAlert. A Komodo dragon, according to researchers, may have been the common ancestor of this ancient snake and current snakes.
This relationship refutes the theory that snakes developed a legless shape to improve their ability to swim in aquatic situations. This could imply that they may have developed their legless way of life on land.
If that's the case, having no legs must have had some form of evolutionary benefit. According to one theory, these slithery animals' ancestors lived in tunnels, where their lack of legs would have enabled them to reach prey that was concealed in narrow places.
Giving snakes their four legs back may not be the gift Pan had hoped for because having four legs is likely a burden in a snake's daily life.
Related Article: Scientists Invent a Tiny Robot With 'Human-Like Hands' That Can Lift 1000 Times Its Own Weight!
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Written by Joaquin Victor Tacla
