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A giant prehistoric snake longer than a school bus slithered across what is now India 47 million years ago, a new study suggests.
This extinct snake was probably one of the largest snakes ever recorded, dwarfing today’s anacondas and pythons, which can grow to about 6 meters (20 feet). The scientific name of this giant creature is Vasuki indicus, named after the mythical snake around the neck of the Hindu god Shiva and the country in which it was found.
According to the study published Thursday in the journal Scientific Reports, the snake is likely a slow-moving ambush predator that subdues its prey by constricting or crushing it to death.
The report’s two authors, from the Indian Institute of Technology Roorkee in Uttarakhand, analyzed 27 fossilized vertebrae, some of which were still connected to each other, discovered in 2005 in a coal mine in the western Indian state of Gujarat.
Initially, the team thought the bones belonged to an ancient crocodile-like creature. It wasn’t until early in the study in 2023, when researchers were clearing sediment from the fossil, that they realized they were looking at the remains of an unusually large snake, the authors said.
The study says the vertebrae appear to belong to a fully adult animal.
There are many possible reasons for its large size, including a favorable environment, postdoctoral researcher Debagit Datta and paleontology professor Sunil Bajpai said in a joint email. and ample food resources, as well as a lack of natural predators.
Another driver could be warmer climate conditions than currently, they say.
Based on the size of the preserved vertebrae, researchers estimated the snake’s length to be between 10.9 meters (36 feet) and 15.2 meters (50 feet) using two different calculation methods, with a broad, cylindrical body.
Debaget and Bajpai said they believe it lived on land rather than in the water like an anaconda, but it was unlikely to hang out in trees due to its large size.
The authors say body length estimates should be treated with caution because they do not have complete skeletons. However, the snake’s size rivals that of the largest known snake species, the extinct Titanoboa.
According to fossil identification in Colombia, Titanoboa weighed 1,140 kilograms (2,500 pounds) and was 13 meters (42.7 feet) long from nose to tail tip.
Snake size and the role of climate
Snakes are cold-blooded animals and require heat in their environment to survive. Therefore, their size depends on how warm the climate is.
Their internal body temperature fluctuates with changes in ambient temperature, the authors said. Therefore, higher ambient temperatures increase Vasuki’s internal body temperature and metabolic rate, allowing it to grow to such a large size.
Based on information about the size and metabolism of living snakes, as well as current temperatures, the team concluded that Wasuki lived in a warm tropical climate, with an average annual temperature of 28 degrees Celsius (82 degrees Fahrenheit).
Datta and Bajpai said the snake lives in coastal swamps and swamps.
They say it’s impossible to say exactly what animals Vasuki ate. Related fossils collected from the rocks that produced Vasuki include rays, bony fish (catfish), turtles, crocodiles and even primitive whales. Vasuki may have preyed on some of them.
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