Saturday, February 7, 2009

Titanoboa Cerrejonensis snake



New discoveries of fossils throw more light on the evolution of life on the earth. The latest in the series is the stunning discovery of the fossilized remains of the greatest snake that is believed to have roamed the earth some 60 million years ago! . They snacked on crocodiles! This was found in the Cerrejon's mine.

This snake, a boa-like behemoth called Titanoboa existed in the tropical rainforests of Columbia. Judged by its vertebra, this snake is estimated to have weighed between 703 kg and 2.03 tonnes and measured in length in the range of 10.64-15 meters. Experts say that these snakes survived at a time when the earth's temperature was six to eight degrees warmer than it is today. This means that the tropical rainforests thus could exist safely at higher temperatures, which is a new finding indeed. Looks like the effects of global warming on todays' ecology warrant more accurate and/or corrective studies in the light of this great discovery.

What has Jonathan Block, the paleontologist at the University of Florida to say about this snake? He says the snake that tried to eat Jennifer Lopez in the movie Anaconda is smaller than the latest find.
The photo shows the vertebra of the snake.

Source: Times of India, February 7, 2009
Images: Google

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