Friday, February 6th, 2009

Largest Snake

Fossil bones from Titanoboa cerrejonensis. Roy Carson / University of Florida

Researchers examining a coal mine in Colombia have found the fossil remains of a species of snake that they say weighed 2500 pounds and grew to 45 feet long. And while those super-sized snakes may be enough to give some people nightmares, the presence of such a massive reptile is useful to climate scientists.

'Titanoboa,' as the new species has been named, would need to have lived in warmer temperatures. Scientists estimate that the average temperature at the time of Titanoboa would have needed to be 6 to 8 degrees warmer for the animal to survive. We'll find out more.

Guests

Jason Head
Assistant Professor, Ecology and Evolutionary Biology
University of Toronto Mississauga
Mississauga, Ontario, Canada

Related Links

• Fossils of Largest Snake Give Hint of Hot Earth
• Largest snake 'as long as a bus'

Segment produced by:Annette Heist

Image: An artists depiction of the Titanoboa cerrejonensis, which means titanic boa from Cerrejon.
Credit: Jason Bourque / University of Florida

Friday, February 6th, 2009

• Contaminating Planets
• Google Ocean?
• Future of the FDA
• Largest Snake
• Caterpillar Mimicry
• Ancient Whale Relative Gave Birth on Land
• A Year of Darwin

Elsewhere on Sciencefriday.com

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• Flora and Fauna
• Paleontology
• Climate