have snakes ever had legs?

Answer 1

Yes, most species did use to have legs or limbs (possibly fins). There are many fossils that prove this. Many species of boas and pythons still have a single claw on each side of the body near the tail. Some say this helps grip the female for mating, but it's only a single claw and I have seen boas and pythons mate and they have never used these for gripping.

Answer 2

People are really quoting the bible...LOL. Anyway On some snakes you can still feel the legs they feel like scales that are sticking up or are bent but that is what is left of there legs. So this brings up a good point some people will tell you no snakes did not have legs...ever they don't believe in evolution because ....Adam and Eve were the first Life on earth, HA!(Dinosaurs did exist, sorry people) Others will tell you some animals changed because god willed it (sake form the Adam and eve story). And Others will tell you we (humans) came from monkeys and yes snakes had legs and over a LONG time they lost them because it was a needed change. The question is what do you beleve?

Answer 3

HOW THE SNAKE LOST ITS LEGS

Long ago, just a few million years after the world had begun, there was a beautiful snake. This snake had very small legs. Just because of these legs, the snake could run very fast indeed! The snake was always boasting to the other animals (particularly to the cheetah) about how fast he could run and how he could beat everyone in a race. The cheetah had no legs, so he had to slither along the floor to move. The cheetah was not very fast. In fact, he was the second slowest animal in the forest (the turtle was the slowest). One boiling, sunny day in the summer, the snake challenged the cheetah to a race. The only reason he asked the cheetah was because he knew he would win, and then would have something else to boast about. The cheetah gracefully accepted and preparations were made for the race. By the next day, the news had spread about the race between the cheetah and the snake. Everyone knew the cheetah would lose but in their hearts, they really wanted the cheetah to win.

Deep in the woods, the badger was talking to herself “I hope the cheetah wins” she grumbled “that would teach silly snake a lesson.” In the opening of the forest the race was about to start, the seagull was the referee and the gorilla was the announcer.

“1,2,3 GO!” The snake sped off at great speed, while the cheetah slithered slowly across the floor. At the end of the race, (not surprisingly) the snake won. The seagull was way behind, and for some reason, the end of the track was deserted. The sun was setting, and the seagull still hadn’t caught up. The cheetah was finally at the end. The snake was just about to sneer at the cheetah when suddenly out of the shadows a strange creature that they had never seen before stood in front of them. It had 2 legs, 2 arms, and it had something that looked like fur on its head.

“Snake”! it bellowed. We gave you a wonderful gift and you chose not to use it wisely. You chose to boast about this gift and for that you will have to face the consequences!’ The cheetah glanced over to look at snake, he was as white as a sheet and was shivering very severely. He looked back over to the strange animal just in time to see him wave his big brown staff, when suddenly there was a big flash of bright white light! When the light cleared, the strange creature had disappeared and he felt much taller than he did before. He looked down only to see that he had long thin legs. He looked to his left and saw the strangest thing he had ever seen in his whole life, a snake with no legs! Oh! How he and the other animals laughed when they saw the snake! Snake regretted being boastful and mean to all the other creatures. He was so sad that he stayed in his home for the rest of his life, only to come out to catch his food

Three years had passed and with no sign that snake was ever coming back, Cheetah decided to take his new legs for a test run. He started running with great speed, much faster than all the other animals! After a week or so, he became boastful too. All the other animals hated him as he told all the tales about how kind and thoughtful he was.

You never know, maybe the next time you see a cheetah; he might have no legs again!

Answer 4

Snakes and lizards shared a common ancestor in the chain of evolution (though I sound like the odd-duck out believing such a thing). In that sense, the snakes did once upon a time (I believe something like 110 million years ago) have legs. however, since snakes are a completely different species than their ancestor, the closest to 'legs' a snake has is pelvic spurs. These are found only on the older species of snakes, like ball pythons and boas. The only reason for them that people can come up with are that they are for mating purposes (ever tried to stack 2 rolls of nickels up on each other? I can imagine the spurs help). Anyway, the animals that still have these prehensile (sp?) legs also have two sets of lungs, instead of the evolved, more efficient one long lung setup. They still seem to make it though, having been around longer than us (I apologize if I upset those who have religious beliefs counter to this).

Answer 5

Snakes evolved from species that had limbs (of fins) and some of the 'old world' snakes still show signs of this, in their skeleton, and visibly by the suprs either side of their vent. It is believed that these spurs are used to stimulate the female when mating, they can move independently of each other and are the remnants of the limbs they once had. it is thought that the snakes that do show some signs of once having legs are mainly ground dwellers and burrow beneath the ground, are descendants of lizards, and we all know that one of the main (other than the legs things) difference between lizards and snakes is the lack of ear drums in the latter, which again, could be attributed to the ground dwelling part of their life style, who needs ear drums when your underground and can't hear anything, sensing vibrations is much more effective in that situation!

There is a very interesting article here... http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m1511/is_n7_v18/ai_19560108 about a prehistoric snake that was found to have 2 limb like features. its a good read for both scientific and religious believers.

Answer 6

Yes, and sometimes a snake will be found that has very small & useless legs. Contrary to popular belief, snakes are not simply "lizards without legs" - they are very different animals.

Google "snake legs" and you'll get loads of info. Try also the archive at New Scientist.

Answer 7

According to the bible, the snake was cursed after allowing Satan to use it's body to deceive Adam and Eve. God said to the snake you will forever crawl around on your belly, and from that statement one could conclude that at the time God addressed the snake it must have had legs. If you look at the skeleton of a snake there are bony nubs where the legs would have been.

Answer 8

Yes, they did. You can find this answer in the Bible.
In the book of Genesis, the snake (also called serpent) deceived Eve into eating fruit from the forbidden tree. Then, Eve gave some to her husband, Adam. When they figured out that they had sinned, they hid. When God found them, he asked Adam why he had eaten the fruit. He blamed Eve, who then blamed the serpent. They all got in trouble and God said this:
14 So the LORD said to the serpent, "Because you have done this,
"Cursed are you among all the livestock and all the animals!
You will crawl on your belly and eat dust all the days of your life."
-Genesis 3:14
So snakes did have legs, but then God took them away because of the terrible sin they committed. There is a debate about if the serpent was actually the devil in disguise, I believe that to be true.
There you go!

Answer 9

yes ! and if you ever get to see an x-ray of a snake u can see what was once there leg bones.

Answer 10

Christianity has a belief that snakes once had legs and maybe even wings. If it's true I don't know, but if your dealing with religion anything is possible with God.