Finding a 42-foot-long snake (fossil)

In 2009, I posted that paleontologists found the fossilized remains of the world's largest snake, a 42-foot-long relative of the boa constrictor. Paleontologists from the University of Toronto dubbed the species Titanoboa cerrejonensis for the Cerrejón region of northern Colombia where they found the remains. The snake snacked on crocodiles. As part of a new Smithsonian documentary "Titanoboa: Monster Snake," sculptor Kevin Hockley built a life-size replica of the beast. Smithsonian has a preview of the documentary along with a feature article about the discovery of the snake. From Smithsonian:

The (Cerrejón) river basin held turtles with shells twice the size of manhole covers and crocodile kin—at least three different species—more than a dozen feet long. And there were seven-foot-long lungfish, two to three times the size of their modern Amazon cousins.

The lord of this jungle was a truly spectacular creature—a snake more than 40 feet long and weighing more than a ton. This giant serpent looked something like a modern-day boa constrictor, but behaved more like today’s water-dwelling anaconda. It was a swamp denizen and a fearsome predator, able to eat any animal that caught its eye. The thickest part of its body would be nearly as high as a man’s waist. Scientists call it Titanoboa cerrejonensis.

It was the largest snake ever, and if its astounding size alone wasn’t enough to dazzle the most sunburned fossil hunter, the fact of its existence may have implications for understanding the history of life on earth and possibly even for anticipating the future.

"How Titanoboa, the 40-Foot-Long Snake, Was Found"

• [donovan acree]

  Even Marlin Perkins would have thought twice about tangling with this beast. http://youtu.be/T8s_g2v9M1g

  • [Leigh Claffey]

     He would have had Jim tangle with it….

• [Noctilucent Studios]

  I would like to respectfully withdraw my comment from yesterday re:  ”In Heaven Everything is Fine” and use that here instead.

  Ye Gods!

• [Brainspore]

  Damn you meddling kids, we closed off the Chamber of Secrets for a reason.

• [Glen Able]

  Random, but pleasing,  facts:

  These kind of snakes are known as “boids”.
  Boa constrictor appears to be the only living creature which has the same common name and scientific (“latin”) name.
  Titanoboa is as long as seven Kevin Bacons glued together.

  • [chenille]

    Boa constrictor appears to be the only living creature which has the same common name and scientific (“latin”) name.

    Not so! Lots of things get called by the scientific name: gorilla, bison, alligator, danio, mantis, chrysanthemum, amoeba. If you insist on the full species name it’s not common, but still happens with some plants like aloe vera, and then it’s hard to even think of extinct cases beyond tyrannosaurus rex.

    • [Chang Terhune]

      Oh, and Don Henley.

  • [Antinous / Moderator]

    Boa constrictor appears to be the only living creature which has the same common name and scientific (“latin”) name.

    I’m pretty sure that boas have a common name in the local language.

    • [Brainspore]

      I’m pretty sure that boas have a common name in the local language.

      I thought that WAS the local language… don’t most boas live in Latin America?

  • [timquinn]

    ‘boids’ meaning ‘like a boa,’ I presume. Though it gives me visions of huge schools of the things flying through the air.

• [GawainLavers]

  Is that John Voight’s legs sticking out of its mouth?

  • [Antinous / Moderator]

    Angie?

• [IronEdithKidd]

  Coming soon to Syfy; Titanoboa v. Dinocroc. 

  Or did they already do that one? 

  • [Antinous / Moderator]

    Would it kill them to drop a Titanoboa on Klendathu for a change?

    • [IronEdithKidd]

      Yes. 

      “The Lord spaketh unto the entertainers ’thine 6th night fare must sucketh’.  And so it was.” – Somewhere in the bible.

• [Mark Eijsermans]

  Titanoboa -a 50ft robotic snake created by vancouver based art and engineering team at eatART. Stay tuned for more awesomeness being developed by these guys over the coming years.
  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ocyhbij9JYQ
  http://titanoboa.ca/

• [Cicada Mania]

  Its bowel movements must have been the size of… me!

  • [Antinous / Moderator]

    Snakes basically shit hairballs. I’m not sure what a snake that lives on crocodiles would extrude.

    • [Chang Terhune]

      Shoes and handbags?

• [willeswood]

  OR the most elaborate april fools joke ever?

• [LightningRose]

  I’d ask for a unicorn chaser, but I’m afraid the snake would eat it!

• [BombBlastLightingWaltz]

  “Struth! ‘e was a big bugger!”

• [JhmL]

  Indiana Jones should’ve fought it.

• [bumpngrindcore]

  Christ, I usually love snakes but that fella’s gonna be in my nightmares tonight! 

• [Rachel Baker]

  Yikes!