Snake legs and pelvis

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See Anal spurs in Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

At some point in their embryonic development, many snakes, with the exception of the colubrids and viperids, develop hind limb buds^[1]. In most species, these are reabsorbed. However, in a few families, such as the boas (Boidae), pythons (Pythonidae) and thread snakes (Leptotyphlopidae), remnants are retained into adulthood. External remnants are known as anal spurs. In species that have them, anal spurs are found on both males and females. The males are larger and serve to stimulate the female during mating. Species with anal spurs also have internal leg bones and a pelvis.

This is inexplicable from a creationist perspective. There is no reason for an intelligent designer to cause snakes to grow legs and then lose them, and there is no reason for them to retain a pelvis and leg remnants. Claiming they are simply degraded or cursed lizards, as is often claimed^[1], doesn't work because they also have highly advanced features not found in lizards (such as a divided jaw). The ability to move quickly and efficiently over a variety of surfaces, even including underwater (especially aquatic elapid snakes) and through the air (gliding snakes of the genus Chrysopelea) is surely not an example of degradation. Also, if a divine curse is the explanation for this vestigial feature, that would open the door up to a similar explanation in all animals with similar features, and the Bible doesn't suggest God randomly went around cursing whales, dolphins, humans, etc. with lost attributes.

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