Fossils found of 42-foot-long snake

By David Pescovitz at 12:02 pm Wednesday, Feb 4

Researchers have unveiled fossils 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. From Science News:

Analyses of the rocks surrounding the Titanoboa fossils suggest that the behemoth lived on coastal plains in a wet tropical rainforest, the same type of environment frequented today by anacondas, paleontologist Jason Head of the University of Toronto in Mississauga, Ontario, and his colleagues report.

However, the researchers speculate, the climate in which Titanoboa lived was much hotter than today’s. The maximum body size that a snake species can reach is related to the average annual temperature of the environment in which it lives.

"Giant Snakes Scary, But Useful As Climate Calibrators" (Science News) "Snake Longer Than School Bus Discovered!" (Cryptomundo)