Snake lovers will be intrigued with the following archeological find, but not those of you who shutter at the sight of a big snake. Evidence of a snake larger than your wildest dreams has been recently unveiled , providing yet another key to the ancient past. So, just how large was this snake? It’s estimated measurements and other facts are found in this article.
In the northeastern part of Columbia, fossils shed light on proves to be the largest snake discovered to date. It is said to have measured between 42 and 45 feet long, and could have gotten as big as over 2,000 pounds. According to an expert on snakes from the American Museum of Natural History in New York, the ancient snake weighed more than a bison and was longer than a city bus.
So, what did a snake this big eat when it got hungry. When the snake ate, it could have easily eaten something that was the same size as a cow. It is believed that a snake this large probably supped on the ancient relatives of crocodiles that dwelled in its home, which is surrounded by rainforest. This would have been from 58 million to 60 million years into the past.
The researchers who have uncovered the remains of the snake have given it the name, Titanoboa cerrejonensis, which translates into “titanic boa from Cerrejon.” The name pays homage to the region where the fossil was uncovered. Scientists do know that the newly found fossil has a hereditary link to the boa constrictors that we see in modern times. Its behavior can be compared to the anaconda and lived the majority of its life in the water. It did possess the ability to slither on land and to swim.
The importance of the find highlights just how big snakes can get. This discovery is also a record breaker, shattering the previous length for a snake by about 11 feet. Just to give you an idea of just how big the Titanoboa is , let’s take the size of the backbone of the snake as compared to another species of snake. The skeleton of an anaconda measuring 17 feet possesses a backbone the same size as a silver dollar. However, when it comes to the Titanoboa, the backbone is actually the same size as a large grapefruit hailing from Florida.
The site that produced the large snake fossil has reaped close to 180 fossils of backbone and ribs that once belonged to around 24 different snakes. With another trip to the site in Columbia, scientists wish to locate parts of the skull. Already, the size of Titanoboa will generate information regarding the environment during his lifetime. This is because the size of a snake is linked to how warm its surroundings are. Therefore, the fossils do suggest that the equatorial temperatures of his time were drastically warmer than what we are used to now.
The snake originally made its grand reveal in early 2007 at the University of Florida’s Florida Museum of Natural History located in Gainesville.