Titanoboa: The Monster Snake that Ruled Prehistoric Colombia

You might not need to examine this scary creature should you endure from ophidiophobia, and even if you’re about to embark on a tenting journey. Once the most important snake on this planet, Titanoboa fossils found in Colombia reveal that it lived in the course of the Paleocene epoch about 60 million years in the past. Even although you’re protected from its bone-crushing grip at present, the considered the large prehistoric snake slithering round South America continues to be a terrifying one.

So far, the South American nation of Colombia has the one identified fossils of the large serpent. It is thru these scant stays that paleontologists had been capable of estimate the dimensions of this prehistoric creature. This estimation was then used to create a life-size mannequin of Titanoboa, which was exhibited in 2012 in New York City’s Grand Central Terminal as a promotion for the Smithsonian Channel documentary entitled  Titanoboa: Monster Snake.

Artistic illustration of Titanoboa. (Michael Rosskothen / Adobe Stock)

Titanoboa: The Titanic Boa of Antiquity

Titanoboa, that means “gigantic snake,” completely fits this historic serpent’s colossal proportions. Known to have existed in the course of the Paleocene, tens of tens of millions of years after the extinction occasion that worn out the non-avian dinosaurs about 66 million years in the past, it represents a captivating chapter within the evolution of Earth’s fauna.

Paleontologists estimate that Titanoboa may have reached lengths ranging between 42 and 49 ft (roughly 12.8 to 14.9 m)—so long as a faculty bus!—and weighed an astonishing 2500 kilos (1134 kg). Additionally, the thickest a part of the snake’s physique is estimated to have had a diameter of three ft (roughly 0.9 meters).

By comparability, the anaconda, certainly one of at present’s largest snakes, can exceed 20 ft (6.1 m) in size and weigh over 500 kilos (227 kg). Titanoboa was clearly a large in comparison with the most important snakes of recent instances. But it wasn’t the one big snake on this planet. Just a few million years later, about 40 to 38 million years in the past, Gigantophis existed in what’s now North Africa, reaching lengths of round 33 ft (about 10 m).

There is a scientific clarification for the colossal measurement of the Titanoboa. Warmer temperatures in the course of the Paleocene epoch would have offered favorable circumstances for reptilian progress and improvement.

Reptiles are ectothermic, that means they depend on exterior sources of warmth to control their physique temperature. Warmer climates would have allowed reptiles to metabolize meals extra effectively, facilitating fast progress and probably resulting in bigger physique sizes. Additionally, hotter temperatures might have prolonged the reptiles’ lively intervals, permitting for elevated foraging and feeding alternatives, which may contribute to their general measurement.

While at present’s anacondas are semiaquatic creatures capable of maintain their breath underwater for so long as 45 minutes, Titanoboa is believed to have been a land-dwelling snake, just like modern-day boas. While it might have lived close to water sources, corresponding to rivers and swamps, it possible hunted and roamed totally on land.

Scientists consider that TItanoboa was a formidable predator. But relatively than counting on its venomous poison, this colossal constrictor—harking back to modern-day anacondas—wielded immense power to squeeze the life from its victims. These would have included big turtles and crocodiles. The concept is sufficient to ship chills down your backbone.

The Cerrejón coal mine in La Guajira, Colombia. An space identified for its vital coal reserves, Cerrejón mine is without doubt one of the largest open-pit coal mines on this planet and is the situation the place the Titanoboa fossils had been found. (camaralucida1 / Adobe Stock)

Discovering Titanoboa: Delving into the Ancient Secrets of Colombia

The discovery of Titanoboa was made in the course of the first decade of the twenty first century in Cerrejón, a coal mine within the northern a part of Colombia. In 2009 it was named  Titanoboa cerrejonensis, that means “the Titanoboa from Cerrejón.”

Nevertheless, the marketing campaign that led to the invention started in 1994, when the Colombian geologist Henry Garcia discovered an unfamiliar fossil which he labelled a “petrified branch” earlier than inserting it in one of many coal firm’s show circumstances.

When a Colombian undergraduate geology pupil by the identify of Fabiany Herrera was at Cerrejón for a area journey in 2003 he found fossilized plant stays. As the realm had not been explored beforehand by paleontologists, an expedition was quickly organized. One of the researchers invited to affix the expedition was Scott Wing, the curator of fossil crops on the Smithsonian’s National Museum of Natural History.

Jeff Gage / Florida Museum

It was Wing who realized that Garcia’s fossil was not from a plant. He despatched images of it to a different knowledgeable, the University of Florida paleontologist Jonathan Bloch, who recognized the fossil as belonging to the jawbone of a land animal.

This was thrilling information, as fossils of terrestrial vertebrates from the Paleocene epoch had not been present in that a part of South America earlier than. Researchers hypothesized that extra fossils of such animals had been to be discovered on the web site, which proved to be true. Their preservation owes a lot to the swampy waters they inhabited, which facilitated the distinctive fossilization course of.

Giant Titanoboa serpent confronting a prehistoric crocodile. (Daniel Eskridge / Adobe Stock)

Identifying the Titanoboa Monster Snake

It wasn’t till 2007 that Titanoboa’s vertebrae had been recognized throughout an inspection of a cargo marked “crocodile.” This discovery prompted recent expeditions looking for extra vertebrae. Eventually, paleontologists collected 100 snake vertebrae from 28 people, enabling them to estimate the dimensions of the prehistoric snake.

In 2012, one other vital discovery in regards to the Titanoboa was made when paleontologists unearthed a snake cranium. Such a discover is extraordinarily uncommon, as snake skulls are very fragile and often collapse after the animal dies.

One of the peculiarities of this cranium is that it has carefully packed enamel, much more than modern-day boas. This has led specialists to invest that Titanoboa was a specialised fish-eater. Still, contemplating its measurement, Titanoboa may have simply preyed on prehistoric turtles and crocodiles, which lived in the identical habitat as this snake.

Replica Titanoboa created by Kevin Hockley. (Kelly Verdeck / CC BY-ND 2.0 DEED)

These later discoveries prompted the 2012 creation of a life-size mannequin of Titanoboa exhibited in New York City’s Grand Central Terminal to advertise the Smithsonian Titanoboa documentary. Created by Kevin Hockley of Hockley Studios, a sculptor and mannequin maker with an enormous portfolio, the 48-foot duplicate Titanoboa was represented chomping down on a dyrosaur (a form of historic crocodile)

While indigenous Amazonian folklore has integrated takes of big serpent-like creatures swelling in its rivers and waterway, such because the Yacumama, Boitatá and Cobra Grande, Titanoboa is understood solely from fossil information, and there’s no indication that any comparable species exist within the present-day Amazon ecosystem. Nevertheless, some consider that Titanoboas nonetheless survive deep within the Amazon.

Top picture: Representational picture of a prehistoric Titanoboa. Source: anis rohayati / Adobe Stock

By Wu Mingren