Fossils of the world's largest snake found

2009/03/01 Elhuyar Zientzia Iturria: Elhuyar aldizkaria

• Paleontologia
• Arkeologia

Paleontologists at the University of Toronto have discovered fossils of the world's largest snake in northeastern Colombia. Thanks to this discovery, researchers have concluded what the tropical climate was like in Paleocene, that is, 58 or 60 million years ago.

Unlike humans, snakes need ambient heat to activate their metabolism. Therefore, researchers have suggested that in these regions the temperature would be between 30 and 34 degrees Celsius so that the snakes were so large. Today, the longest snakes live in South America and Southeast Asia. In fact, the high temperatures of these territories grow enormously.

It has been compared the appearance and size of the fossils found with those of living snakes today, observing that the snake would have an approximate length of 12.8 meters and a weight of 1.135 kg.