A team of researchers has discovered the fossil of a giant ancient snake that could be longer than a school bus and weigh a ton.
Scientists in India have uncovered fossils of an ancient snake that may represent the largest snake species ever to inhabit the Earth. This oversized snake could reach lengths of 15 meters, exceeding the current record-holder, the Titanoboa, by 2 meters. The newly identified species is named Vasuki Indicus, after the king of snakes in Hindu mythology, who is often depicted coiling around the neck of one of the major deities, Shiva, according to Live Science.
Vasuki Indicus may compete for the title of the largest snake on the planet with Titanoboa. (Photo: iStock).
The research team published their findings on April 18 in the journal Scientific Reports, suggesting that the fossils originate from an adult snake that had reached full maturity. A total of 27 vertebrae fossils from the giant snake were excavated from the Panandhro Lignite mine in Gujarat state. These fossils date back approximately 47 million years, during the Eocene epoch (33.9 to 56 million years ago). They estimated the total body length of the snake by using the width of the vertebrae and found that V. indicus could measure between 11 to 15 meters, although there is potential for error in this estimate.
The researchers employed two methods to derive estimates of V. indicus’ body length. Both methods utilized modern snake species to determine the relationship between vertebra width and length, but differed in the dataset used. One method utilized data from modern snakes in the South American boa family (including boas and pythons), while the other method used data from all living boa species. According to co-author Debajit Datta from the Indian Institute of Technology Roorkee, Vasuki belongs to an extinct family of boas, which is a distant relative of pythons and anacondas.
The upper range of the estimate could make V. indicus larger than Titanoboa cerrejonensis, the largest known boa species discovered to date, which lived 60 million years ago and was unearthed in northeastern Colombia in 2002. V. indicus belongs to the Madtsoiidae family of boas, which first appeared at the end of the Cretaceous period (66 to 100.5 million years ago) in South America, Africa, India, Australia, and southern Europe.
Considering the positioning of the ribs connected to the vertebrae, the research team speculated that V. indicus had a stout, cylindrical body primarily adapted for terrestrial living. In comparison, aquatic snake species typically have elongated, flattened bodies. Due to its large size, the researchers believe this boa was likely an ambush predator, taking down prey by constriction, similar to modern anacondas. They suggest that V. indicus thrived in a warm climate with an average temperature of around 28 degrees Celsius. However, the researchers currently know little about its musculature, how the snake utilized its muscles, or its diet.
Sunil Bajpai, a vertebrate paleontologist at IIT Roorkee, shared that the team hopes to analyze carbon and oxygen isotopes in the fossils, which could reveal more about the diet of the V. indicus snake.
