Largest snake as long as a bus

Artist's impression showing the giant snake Titanoboa cerrejonensis

The discovery of fossilized remains belonging to the world's largest snake has been reported in Nature journal. By Paul Rincon
Science reporter, BBC News

Titanoboa was 13m (42ft) long - about the length of a bus - and lived in the rain forest of north-east Colombia 58-60 million years ago.

The snake was so wide it would have reached up to a person's hips, say researchers, who have estimated that it weighed more than a tonne.

Green anacondas - the world's heaviest snakes - reach a mere 250kg (550lbs).

Reticulated pythons - the world's longest snakes - can reach up to 10m (32ft).

Snakes had the opportunity to evolve and grow as big as this one did in a way that they probably wouldn't today P David Polly, Indiana University

The team of researchers led by Jason Head, from the University of Toronto at Mississauga, Canada, used a known mathematical relationship between the size of vertebrae and the length of the body in living snakes to estimate the size of the ancient animal.

Named Titanoboa cerrejonensis by its discoverers, the beast's 13m-long body and 1,140kg (2,500lb) weight make it the largest snake on record.

"At its greatest width, the snake would have come up to about your hips. The size is pretty amazing," said co-author P David Polly, from Indiana University in Bloomington, US.

Researchers discovered fossilized bones belonging to the super-sized slitherers and their possible prey at Cerrejon, one of the world's largest open-pit coal mines. The animal is a relative of modern boa constrictors.

Warming world

"Probably like an anaconda, it spent a lot of time in the water," said Professor Polly.

"It would have needed to eat a lot.

"What its prey was exactly, we don't know. But it probably included alligators, big fish or crocodiles."

The researchers also used the reptile's size to make an estimate of Earth's temperature 58 to 60 million years ago in tropical South America.

Palaeontologists have long known that as temperatures go up and down over geological time, generally speaking, so does the upper size limit of cold-blooded creatures - or poikilotherms.

This is because the metabolism of a poikilotherm is more or less controlled by the average temperature of its environment.

Assuming the Earth today was not particularly unusual, the researchers calculated that a snake of Titanoboa's size would have required an average annual temperature of 30C to 34C (86F to 93F) to survive.

By comparison, the average yearly temperature of today's Cartagena, a Colombian coastal city, is about 28C.

Opportunity knocks

"A snake living in the tropics would have been operating at a much higher metabolic rate," said Professor Polly.

"So snakes had the opportunity to evolve and grow as big as this one did in a way that they probably wouldn't today."

Titanoboa (r)" vspace="0" width="226" border="0" height="170" hspace="0"> A vertebra from an anaconda (l) is dwarfed by one from Titanoboa (r)

He added that as the Earth warmed up in future, cold-blooded animals could be expected to evolve larger bodies.

Dr Head adds that the find "challenges our understanding of past climates and environments, as well as the biological limitations on the evolution of giant snakes."

However, Dr Matthew Huber, a climatologist from Purdue University in Indiana, who was not connected with the study, questioned whether the link between size and temperature was "generalizable and accurate".

He commented: "Head and colleagues' findings are the result of probably the first study in 'snake palaeothermometry', and as such must be viewed with caution."

Thai villagers work to keep snakes warm: BAN KHOK SANGA

BAN KHOK SANGA, Thailand, Jan. 18 (UPI) -- Residents of a village in Thailand have had an unusual problem recently -- unusual for them, anyway -- keeping their cobras warm.
Ban Khok Sanga in the northeastern part of the country is famous for its cobra shows, Thai News Agency reports. The village is home to about 300 king cobras -- the world's largest venomous snake -- and 20 snake charmers.

Thailand has been hit with unusually cold weather with temperatures dropping low enough to kill unprotected snakes. The cold also makes the cobras lethargic.
"When the snakes are warm, they'll move fast and turn their bodies fast when fighting," said Bancha Laorad, a snake charmer. "If not, they'll be very slow and not elegant."
The villagers use scraps of cloth and hay to insulate the caskets in which they keep the snakes. They also make sure all the snakes get a daily dose of sunlight.
"The UVA from the sunlight helps spur the snakes' activity. It also stimulates the immunity of the serpents. If the snakes don't have the appropriate temperature and sunlight in the morning, they tend to die easily," said Sompoch Weerakul, an assistant professor at the Khon Kaen University Faculty of Veterinary Medicine.

Fossil of largest snake found in Colombia

BOGOTA, Feb. 5 (UPI) -- Fossilized remains of a 42-foot-long, 2,500-pound snake discovered in northeastern Colombia represent the biggest snake ever found, scientists say.
The researchers, led by Jason Head of the University of Toronto, estimate the snake, called Titanoboa cerrejonensis, lived 58 million to 60 million years ago, the BBC reported Wednesday.
By comparison, the heaviest snakes living today, the green anacondas, weigh only about 550 pounds and reticulated pythons can reach about 32 feet long.
The researchers used the mathematical relationship between the size of vertebrae and the length of the body in living snakes to project the size of the prehistoric serpent.
"At its greatest width, the snake would have come up to about your hips. The size is pretty amazing," said co-author P. David Polly of Indiana University in Bloomington, Ind.
The snake fossil was found at Cerrejon, one of the world's largest open-pit coal mines. It was related to today's boa constrictors.
"Probably like an anaconda, it spent a lot of time in the water," Polly said.
"It would have needed to eat a lot. What its prey was exactly, we don't know. But it probably included alligators, big fish or crocodiles."
The researchers' findings were reported in the Nature scientific journal.

Scorpion diet makes snakes more venomous

BANGOR, Wales, April 10 (UPI) -- Deadly saw-scaled vipers that feed on scorpions are far more dangerous than those that eat mammals and reptiles, a Welsh researcher says.

Axel Barlow of Bangor University began studying the snakes, one of the major killers in West Africa, to determine why anti-venom does not help some bite victims, the North Wales Chronicle reported. He found that the scorpion-eaters' venom is about 30 times as toxic as that of other saw-scaled vipers.

Barlow is collaborating on his research with the Venom Research Unit at the Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine.

"The West African governments continue to buy this anti-venom from India, but it doesn't work," Barlow said. "It's kind of intuitive that a snake's venom is going to be more toxic to the type of animals that they feed on."

Anti-venom is produced by injecting snake venom into horses, causing them to produce antibodies, and then harvesting their blood. To work, anti-venoms must be matched to the type of venom produced by the snake involved in the bite.

Snake diet find aids anti-venom

The research could help prevent people dying

New research by a Bangor university student has found that the diet of venomous snakes affects its venom strength.

Axel Barlow's discovery means that anti-venom can be developed specific to a certain snake's location or diet.

His studies into saw-scaled vipers, which have evolved to eat scorpions, found that they also had venom which was more lethal to scorpions.

Researchers hope the information will lead to fewer snake bite deaths.

The research was done as part of a final-year paper on saw-scaled vipers by Mr Barlow.

Anti-venom treatment

He said the significance of the discovery was that variation in venom composition between different species or populations of snakes can complicate anti-venom treatment.

This is particularly relevant in the case of saw-scaled vipers which are probably responsible for the majority of snakebite deaths in Africa, he said.

This was because west African hospitals still rely on imported anti-venom from Asia, where the saw-scaled vipers have a very different venom composition.

The saw-scaled vipers have evolved along with their diet

Axel Barlow added: "Saw-scaled vipers provide a good model to study venom variation as different species have extremely different diets.

"This allows us to investigate the effects of evolutionary changes in diet within a single group of related snake species."

Dr Wolfgang Wüster, an expert in snakes and snake venoms who lectures at Bangor added: "This study provides one of the most convincing pieces of evidence to date for the role of natural selection for diet in shaping snake venom composition.

"It is a key question in our understanding of venom evolution in snakes."

Python Swallows Pig

I received these pictures of a couple of zoo keepers feeding a rather large pig to this Snake. I don't know where they are from but it does show you that a snake this size can swallow a small human.

Man Eaten by Python

The pictures below allegedly document a recent incident of a snake eating a person. The accompanying stories vary as to victim (local child, camper, or oil rig crew member) and location (South America with the snake an anaconda, Borneo, and Singapore). The snake is a reticulated python.

The two pictures below obviously are of poorer quality and detail than the ones above. The pictures above also seem to have been in circulation several years before the ones below appeared. The lump appears to be of a stocky animal such as a pig rather than of a person. The person's body has very little mucus on it for having been inside a snake. Those who keep snakes well know how slimy food items get, especially when a snake regurgitates. It's difficult to ascertain where his arms are; one of them should be lying right along his side, since they would have to fold that way during the snake's feeding. His arms may be extending up into the snake to open a path for his head and chest. The upper torso appears to be within a bag inside the snake. The python's stomach and/or intestine also seem to have disappeared. Most experts suspect that these were staged photographs, though I have to give the man credit for crawling that far into the snake. In any event, no news service has ever carried a story relating to these photographs … and it would have made a great story. Some Internet sites with information on these pictures are:

The picture below was taken in Malaysia and printed in a local magazine there. The reticulated python could not completely eat the person. An adult human's shoulders present a real obstacle to the biggest snake. Whether the person already was dead or was killed by the snake remains unknown.

World Record Python

This was a picture I got out of the newspaper. It claimed the snake was a world record and the largest snake ever captured and held in captivity. Unfortunately I lost the clipping with the text that came with it. When I get around to cleaning my office, I'll scan the text in and add it to the picture.

I am not sure where the picture below came from. I do not know if it's the same snake but the pictures came out around the same time.

Giant Snakes in Old Newpapers

This scrub or amethystine python that ate an adult wallaby in Australia, sometimes turns up in the sensational press as a man-eater.

Picture published in Weekly World News on October 30, 1990. The story alleges that a 25-foot 380-pound anaconda ate a Japanese researcher in the Amazon. Since when do people wear pith helmets in the 90's? The snake itself is a reticulated python from Southeast Asia.

The same picture was modified and run a second time in the Weekly World News on January 8, 1991. This time the snake is a serial baby-eater! It has also shrunk from a HUGE 25 to a giant 13 feet. At least the location makes sense. The reticulated python occurs throughout Southeast Asia.

Two photographs submitted by Mr. A.J. "Mac" McBride of Colchester, England, to The Vivarium. He states that they were sepia postcards that a friend of his father had obtained. The second photograph reveals that the retic had eaten a deer.

All of these photos have been retouched to remove military insignia on the men's clothes. It's fairly well known that these were Japanese soldiers during World War II.

Snakes in India- in detail

There are over 2000 types of snakes in the world out of which approximately 200 are found in India. They can be different from a worm snake which is approximately 10 cms to a snake which can be 6 mts long. They live at almost all places in warm seas, semi deserts, swamps, lakes and even Himalayan glaciers up to an elevation of 500 mts.

The main type of snakes from India are :
Common Worm Snake also known as Typhlina bramina. It is a small worm like snake found almost all over india and lives in the elevation of hills up to 1000 mts.

Perrotet's Shield-tail Snake also known as Plectrurus perroteti. Found in the west coast of India a small snake mainly found in The western Ghats of Nilgiri abd Annamalai hills.

Indian Rock Python also known as Python molurus. It is a large thick-bodied snake found in many parts of India. It ranges from the mangrove forest to arid scrublands and dense rain forest of the eastern Himalaya up to an elevation of about 2000 mts.

Common Sand Boa known as Eryx conicus. It is a short and thick-bodied snake. Mainly found in the plains and low hills of India. Being nocturnal they hunt after it gets dark.

Red Sand Boa also known by the name of Eryx johnii. These are medium sized snakes with a very blunt tail. It is found in the drier parts of land.

Common Wolf Snake named as Lycodon aulicus. A small snake thin and proportionate its height found throughout India. It occurs at an elevation of about 2000 mts in the hills.

Banded Kukri known as Oligodon arnesis. It is a small snake having prominent cross bands on its body. It is found all over India and can go up to an elevation of 200 mts. Found mainly in eastern Himalayan.

Stripped Keelback also named as Amaphiesma stalata. They are medium sized snakes. They resemble with the water snakes. They are found all over India and can go up to an elevation of 2000 mts. In the hills.

Green Keelback is also names as Macropisthodon plumbicolor. They are medium in size. And are found in the forest region of India. They can go to an elevation of 1500 mts.

Checkered Keelback Watersnake also names as Xenochropis piscator. Medium sized snake which can elevate up to 3000 mts.

Olive Keelback Watersnake also named as Altritium schistosum. It can be small as well medium sized snake. They are found in central and peninsular india. And can go to an elevation of about 1000 mts.

Trinket Snake is also named as Elaphe halena. It is a medium sized snake. It is found all over India to an elevation of 4000 mts. In the Himalayas.

Rat Snake is also known as Ptyas muscosus. It is found upto an elevation of 4000 mts. And is a large scaled snake. It can adapt to any environment. They are rat-eaters.

Banded Racer known as Argyrogena fasicolatus. This snake prefers to live in tall grass and bushes and is small to medium sized and is found in plains of India.

Royal Snake also named as Spalerosophis diadema. It is found in the drier tracts of Rajasthan, Punjab, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, Jammu hills and Himachal Pradesh. The size of the snake is medium to large. And it can elevate 2000 mts.

Bronze-back Tree Snake is known as Dendrelaphis tristis. These type of snakes prefers low bushes and thorny trees. And can elevate of 2000 mts in the Himalayas. The size of the snake is medium and it is found all over India.

Flying Snake is named as Chrysopelea ornata. It is found in the forest of southwest India and even northeastern parts of the country. North of Bihar and Orissa. The size of the snake is medium sized. These snakes prefer to live on large trees and appear to glide for some distance.

Vine Snake named as Ahaetulla nasutus. It is found all over India except in the northwest and parts of Ganga Plain. The size is medium to large sized. They can occur at an elevation of 2500 mts and prefer to live in low bushes and trees.

Common Cat Snake also by the name of Boiga trigonata. These are nocturnal in habit . These snakes prefer to spend the day time in cool place. The size of the snake is small to medium. It is found all over India up to an elevation of 3000 mts.

Dog-faced Water snake is named as Cerberus rhynchops. It is a medium sized snake and is found in the coastal tracts. They normally prefer to live in muddy and rocky areas in estuaries, mangrove swamps, salt pans and deserted creeks.

Common Krait also named as Bungarus caeruleus. These snakes are found almost all over India up to an elevation of 1700 mts. The habit of this snake is nocturnal. The size of this snake is medium and it has white thin bands on its body.

Banded Krait named as Bungarus caeruleus. These snakes have prominent yellow and black bands on its body. The size of the snake is medium. They are found in northeast India, Bihar, Orissa, Madhya Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh. They can be found up to an elevation of 1500 mts.

Sleder Coral Snake also named as Callophis melanurus. This type of snake is found in all parts of the country except northeast India, Bihar, Orissa, Madhya Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh. They can go up to an elevation of 1500 mts. It is small in size.

Indian Spectacled Cobra also known as Naja naja naja. They eat frog, toads, rodents, birds and small snakes. They can elevate of about 4000 mts. The size is medium to large. They are found all over India.

Indian Monocled Cobra is also named as Naja naja kaouthia. The habit of these snakes is nocturnal. They are found in northeast parts of India Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Orissa and West Bengal. They are medium-sized snakes.

King Cobra is also names as Ophiophagus hannah. This type of snakes have distinct cross bands on its forebody. These are large sized snakes. The length of these snakes is up to 5 mts in length. They are found in dense forests of South India Himalayan foothills, Orissa, Bihar, West Bengal and North east India up to an elevation of 2000 mts.

Hook-nosed Sea Snake is also named as Enhydrina schistosa. The body of these snakes is flattened body and tail. The size is medium sized. They are found along the coast and coastal islands. Seasonally they are also found in deep sea though they prefer coastal areas.

Russell's Viper named as Vipera russellii. The ya re found all over India in plains as well as hills up to an elevation of about 3000 mts. The size of the snake is medium to large. They have bright patterns on its body.

Saw-scaled Viper is named as Echis carinatus. They can occur in area as high as 2000 mts. In northwestern Himalayas. Usually a small sized snake and is found all over India mainly in the plains.

Bamboo Pit Viper is also named as Trmeresurus gramineus. Found in the hills of central and eastern India. It prefers cold, thick vegetation along watercourses and bamboos and other dense foliage. They are smaller in size and have triangular head.

These were 30 out of 200 different types of snakes found in India.
There are even other types of snakes some of them are
1. Slender Worm Snake (Typhilina porrectus)

2. Pied-belly Shield-tail Snake (Melanophidium punctatum)

3. Nilgiri Shield-tail Snake(Uropeltis ocellatus)

4.Regal Python (Python reticulatus)

5. Khasi Earth Snake (Stoliczkaia khasiensis)

6. Olive Forest Snake (Rhabdops olivaceus)

7. Glossy Marsh Snake (Gerarda prevostiana).