Titanoboa ranks at the top of the list of the largest snake species with a weight of over one ton and a length of 13 meters.
Reticulated Python (9.9 m)
The reticulated python is the longest snake alive today. (Photo: Paul Starosta)
Natively found in South Asia, the reticulated python (Malayopython reticulatus) is easily recognized by its repeating diamond pattern and is the longest snake on Earth today. Records from 1912 mention a captured reticulated python measuring 10 meters long, equivalent to a school bus, although this figure is difficult to verify. According to the Natural History Museum in London, reticulated pythons typically exceed 6.25 meters in length. The longest reticulated python in captivity measured 7.7 meters, according to the Guinness World Records.
Due to their size and unpredictable nature, reticulated pythons can sometimes pose a threat to human life. In 2018, authorities discovered the body of an Indonesian woman inside a reticulated python. Like many other python species, females coil around their eggs and contract their muscles rhythmically to generate heat, helping to increase the hatchlings’ chances of survival.
Green Anaconda (10 m)
The green anaconda can weigh up to 250 kg. (Photo: National Geographic)
The green anaconda (Eunectes murinus) silently slithers through the swamps and streams of the Amazon, where it can live long enough to reach lengths exceeding 9 meters. This is the heaviest snake species on Earth today, with some individuals weighing up to 250 kg, according to the National Zoo and the Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute.
This species uses its massive body to constrict prey such as capybaras, caiman crocodiles, and deer. There are no official records for the largest green anaconda, but in 2016, construction workers in Brazil encountered an estimated 10-meter-long snake weighing 399 kg. According to Patrick Campbell, a manager at the Natural History Museum in London, the muscular mass of the anaconda wraps around its prey, causing heart failure, which halts the heartbeat and blood circulation. This immobilizes the prey long enough for the green anaconda to swallow it whole, usually starting from the head.
Gigantophis garstini (9.8 m)
Gigantophis garstini was a colossal monster that lived 40 million years ago. Researchers estimate it had a body length of 7 to 10 meters. This constrictor species was discovered in Egypt in 1901 and could coil around large prey, such as the ancestors of early elephants, and swallow them whole. Scientists discovered that Gigantophis is related to another extinct giant species, Madtsoia, found in India, indicating that giant snakes once roamed widely across Asia.
Palaeophis colossaeus (12 m)
Palaeophis colossaeus is a marine snake that lived in the ancient oceans that covered much of North Africa 100 million years ago. When fossilized remains were discovered in today’s Sahara Desert, researchers estimated from specimens collected during field trips in 1999 and 2003 that this species could exceed 12 meters in length, as reported in the journal Acta Palaeontologica Polonica. This measurement makes P. colossaeus the longest marine snake ever found. Based on the skeletal remains, researchers determined its mouth was large enough to swallow small whales.
Titanoboa cerrejonensis (13 m)
Titanoboa could be as large as Tyrannosaurus rex. (Photo: MR1805).
As large as a Tyrannosaurus rex, Titanoboa once dominated the humid forests and rivers of South America. This is the largest snake species ever to exist on Earth. Dating back 60 million years, Titanoboa is a prehistoric ancestor of today’s green anaconda. Its 250 vertebrae form a skeleton measuring 13 meters long. It grew by feeding on crocodiles and fish in rivers. Titanoboa’s estimated weight is around 1,130 kg, according to Indiana University. Fossils of this species were discovered in the early 2000s in the Cerrejón formation in Colombia.
