FM Bureau
Titanoboa "meaning “titanic boa,” is an extinct genus of snake that lived approximately 60–58 million years ago, during the Paleocene epoch, a 10-million-year period immediately following the dinosaur extinction event. Titanoboa cerrejonensis is the only known species , which is the largest, longest, and heaviest snake ever discovered, which supplanted the previous record holder, Gigantophis.
Size : By comparing the sizes and shapes of its fossilised vertebrae to those of extant snakes, researchers estimated that the largest individuals of T. cerrejonensis found had a total length of around 12.8 m (42 ft) and weighed about 1,135 kg (2,500 lb).
Location: The snake was discovered on an expedition by a team of international scientists led by Jonathan Bloch, a University of Florida vertebrate paleontologist, and Carlos Jaramillo, a paleobotanist from the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute in Panama.
Scientists in America have unveiled a full-scale model of an ancient snake so large it could swallow a crocodile whole. ‘Titanoboa’ lived in what is now South America around 58-60m years ago, was 42 feet long and weighed more than a ton. The massive animal was the largest snake ever known to have lived, and was more than twice as large as the current biggest specimen. The terrifying snake’s existence was confirmed after scientists excavated a coal mine in Colombia, known to be the site of one of the world’s first tropical rain forests, and found its enormous vertebrae in the rock.They also found fossils of a new species of turtle boasting a shell as thick as a dictionary - but said even that would be unlikely to stop the Titanoboa in its frankly unsettlingly huge tracks
Share this Post: