Paleontologists have discovered the world's largest worm lizard. Photo

Paleontologists have discovered the world's largest worm lizard. The fossil was found south of the Mediterranean Sea in the arid landscape of Tunisia.

Researchers managed to dig up only the jaw of an unusual prehistoric creature. However, this was enough to establish that it is a new species for science, the MiamiHerald writes.

According to the study, the fossil found belongs to a species of Eocene amphisbaenians that lived about 50 million years ago.

According to paleontologists, amphibians are a group of worm-like reptiles, usually without limbs, long and thin like a worm but covered with hard scales like a lizard, and with a snake-like head.

Interestingly, species related to these creatures live today, and some amphibians have even retained their two front limbs. Others have a tail that mimics their head to ward off predators, scientists say.

According to the researchers, the newly found creature "has a certain degree of similarity to extinct and extant (worm lizards), but also has some distinctive features that can easily distinguish it from all other amphisbaenians."

Scientists have discovered the right side of the upper jaw and the left side of the lower jaw of the ancient lizard. Both parts have "a strange dentition," including "a huge tooth in each upper and lower jaw," said study author Georgios Georgalis.

According to the researchers, it's not just a new species, it's "the largest worm lizard in the world." Although it was not large, it was up to about 80 cm in length.

According to the study, a strong jaw allowed this species to "crush a large variety of snails," which may have been the main source of food for this species of prehistoric lizard.

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