Largest Snake Fossil Discovered in Colombia

Scientists from an international team lead by the University of Florida's Florida Museum of Natural History have discovered fossil remains of the largest snake species ever recorded.

Named Titanoboa cerrejonensis, the ancient snake measured 42 to 45 feet long and weighed an estimated 2500 pounds. It lived between 58 million and 60 million years ago and could have easily swallowed ancient crocodiles whole. The fossils were discovered on a dig in a Cerrejón coal mine in Colombia in 2007, and the find breaks the record by 11 feet for the longest snake ever found, a record previously held by fossil remains found in Egypt.

Paleontologists previously believed that snakes had a maximum on how long they could grow, a value somewhat less than 40 feet. The size of a snake is a direct indicator of its environment, as modern snake's sizes are a function of how warm their environment is. A snake as large at Titanoboa indicates that prehistoric South America was as much as 10 degrees warmer than it is today.

Previously, scientists had found no fossils from any vertebrate species that lived between 65 million and 55 million years ago in South America, a period of time just after the extinction of the dinosaurs. Along with about 180 fossil pieces were remains of extinct crocodile and turtle species, likely eaten by Titanoboa.

These results were published in the February 5th issue of Nature.

Source: ScienceDaily