Ancient tegu lizard discovered in Florida using artificial intelligence

When we think of Florida’s wildlife, charismatic reptiles like alligators and snakes often come to mind. Yet, few would associate the tegu, a South American lizard known for its striking patterns and imposing size, with prehistoric North America.

The tegu’s invasion of Florida in the 1990s via the pet trade wreaked havoc on the region’s ecosystems, earning the lizard a reputation as a notorious invasive species.

However, a recent breakthrough from the Florida Museum of Natural History reveals that the tegus’ connection to North America stretches far beyond their modern-day escapades.

Tiny fossil of an ancient tegus

The discovery began in the early 2000s, when Jason Bourque, a fresh graduate, stumbled upon a peculiar vertebra fossil in the museum’s collection. It was only half an inch wide, but its shape gnawed at him.

Despite its unassuming size, the fossil refused to be ignored. “We have all these mystery boxes of fossil bones, so I was digging through, and I kept coming across this one vertebra,” Bourque said.

“I could not figure out what it was. I put it away for a while. Then I’d come back and say: Is it a lizard? Is it a snake? In the back of my mind for years and years, it just sat there.”

Racing against the clock

Long before Bourque’s moment of realization, the fossil had narrowly escaped permanent burial. A fuller’s earth clay mine near the Florida border was closing down, its quarry set to be filled in. Paleontologists rushed to collect fossils, knowing they might never get another chance.

The fossil made it to the Florida Museum of Natural History, where it languished in storage. There, it became another forgotten bone in a sea of unsorted fossils. But Bourque never quite let it go. Years later, during a late-night research session, an image of a tegu vertebra stopped him cold.

“I saw the tegu, and I just knew right away that’s what this fossil was,” he said. That recognition ignited a new quest — proving it.

AI uncovers hidden fossil secrets

To turn his hunch into scientific fact, Bourque needed evidence. A single vertebra wasn’t enough, but identifying it through traditional methods would be laborious and time-consuming.

Enter Edward Stanley, the museum’s digital imaging director. Stanley saw an opportunity to test a new machine learning technique that bypassed the old, painstaking processes.

Stanley scanned the fossil using a CT machine, creating a 3D model that captured every curve, ridge, and depression. Next, he needed modern tegu vertebrae for comparison. Luckily, the museum’s openVertebrate (oVert) project provided a wealth of 3D vertebrate images.

Stanley then teamed up with Arthur Porto, the museum’s AI curator. Porto’s technique automated the process, pinpointing the fossil’s exact position in the lizard’s spinal column. Each bump and groove aligned perfectly with modern tegus – except for one key difference.

A new tegu species

The fossil wasn’t an exact match for any known tegu species. Instead, it belonged to a previously unknown species, now named Wautaugategu formidus.

The name “Wautauga” references a nearby forest, a nod to the site where the fossil was found. “Formidus,” meaning “warm” in Latin, hints at the creature’s era – the Middle Miocene Climatic Optimum, a period of intense heat.

Back then, Florida was mostly underwater. The coastline stretched to what is now Georgia, creating a warm, swampy habitat. Tegus, skilled swimmers, likely ventured northward, taking advantage of the balmy climate. But the warmth didn’t last.

Why ancient tegus disappeared

Global temperatures dropped after the Miocene heat spike. The once-welcoming shores of prehistoric Georgia turned cold, and Wautaugategu formidus faced a new reality. Cold-blooded and dependent on warm conditions for reproduction, the lizard couldn’t adapt.

“We don’t have any record of these lizards before that event, and we don’t have any records of them after that event. It seems they were here just for a blip, during that really warm period,” Bourque said.

The cooling temperatures likely doomed the species, leaving behind nothing but a solitary vertebra to whisper its story.

Digital revolution in paleontology

While Wautaugategu formidus may have vanished, its discovery marks a pivotal moment for paleontology. Stanley believes AI could transform fossil research, allowing scientists to scan, compare, and identify bones without years of specialized training.

“There are boxes full, shelves full, of fossils that are unsorted because it requires a huge amount of expertise to identify these things, and nobody has time to look through them comprehensively,” Stanley said.

“This is a first step towards some of that automation, and it’s very exciting see where it goes from here.”

The implications are staggering. With open-access databases like oVert, fossils from disparate collections could be cross-referenced, uncovering connections scientists never dreamed of.

Searching for more tegu fossils

For Bourque, the discovery of Wautaugategu formidus is a tantalizing hint of what might still be hiding in the ancient coastal ridge near the Florida-Georgia border. He’s already planning his next expedition, hoping to find more fossils that could fill in the gaps of the tegu’s North American saga.

“I’m ready to go up to the Panhandle and try to find more fossil sites along the ancient coastal ridge near the Florida-Georgia border,” he said.

But even if Bourque finds more fossils, the challenge remains – identifying them. The tegu vertebra only came to light because of a chance encounter and a spark of recognition.

AI could eliminate that element of luck, speeding up the process and allowing scientists to focus on what truly matters: the stories behind the bones.

Ancient tegus and modern reptiles

For years, a half-inch vertebra sat unnoticed in the museum’s collection, its potential obscured by its small size. Now, that fossil has become a key to a lost world, a clue to a forgotten lineage of lizards that once swam across the ancient seas.

The journey from storage box to scientific breakthrough underscores the importance of reexamining old finds with fresh eyes – and new technology.

The future of paleontology may not lie in the ground, but in data, algorithms, and a global network of researchers, all united in the quest to uncover Earth’s ancient past.

For now, Wautaugategu formidus remains a single bone, a lone survivor of a vanished world. But as AI and digital databases expand, more fossils may step out of the shadows, ready to tell their tales.

The study is published in the Journal of Paleontology.

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