When Giant Snakes Roamed the Earth

[Horserider]

It's not a horror movie, it's true:

http://washingtontimes.com/news/2009/feb/05/when-1-ton-43-foot-snakes-roamed-the-earth/

It was as big as a bus, weighed a ton, swallowed crocodiles like hors d'oeuvres and was as mean as a snake. Wait. It was a snake -- the biggest snake that ever slithered the Earth -- or so its 60-million-year-old remains would indicate.

Frankensnake? Snake-asaurus? No; astonished scientists have named it the Titanoboa cerrejonensis.

An international team led by the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute found the fossilized bones of the record-breaking 2,500-pound, 43-foot-long, 4-foot-wide prehistoric creature in a coal mine at Cerrejon in Colombia, close to the equator. And that size is a conservative estimate.

[mare]

Ohhhhh. That would not be good. I'll just deal with the rattlesnakes we have, thank you.

[elevenelevenxo]

Uh...no thank you. Snakes don't scare me, but one that big makes me poop my pants.

[FatSpottedAppy]

Oh my.. I wonder if they'll ever get more information.

[mare]

Oh my.. I wonder if they'll ever get more information.

Hopefully they'll just do a lot of guessing and not find a few left.

[WashingtonBay]

Oh dear... and THIS is what Al Gore has been trying to warn us about....

Stop global warming or we'll all be eaten by giant snakes!

"Our team went a step further and asked: How warm would the Earth have to be to support a body of this size?" he asked.

The temperatures were at least 10 degrees higher than what is typical now at the equator's hottest point, he said.

Scientists generally agree that there is a correlation between temperature and size: As the Earth's temperature increases, so do the sizes of coldblooded animals. The world's biggest snake was a perfect test case for this theory.

"Tropical ecosystems of South America were surprisingly different 60 million years ago," said Jonathan Bloch, a vertebrate paleontologist with the Florida Museum of Natural History.

"It was a rain forest, like today, but it was even hotter, and the coldblooded reptiles were all substantially larger. The result was, among other things, the largest snakes the world has ever seen - and, hopefully, ever will," Mr. Bloch said.

[peace_baby]

I'm glad they found it's remains and not a living one..
I have a phobia of snakes.......

[shewasmyshadow]

I believe in creation and we believe that before the flood the earth was much milder and fertile. That would make sense that the snake was very large.

[Remali]

I heard about that....amazing isn't it?!

On another note....tonight on TV they were talking about all the large snakes down near the Florida Keys....apparently all of them are from people letting their pet snakes loose, and now they've multiplied and are huge.

[outriding01]

Oh yes, we have a snake problem here in FL. People get cute little baby pythons and boas and then decide they'd be happier in the wild when they hit 6 ft. A little boy was killed by a 10 ft python in Dade City (about 45 minutes north of me) a few years back.

I actually watched a thing on Animal Planet last night about some giant snake legend. Anyone watch that new show, Lost Tapes?

[rocknK]

I wonder if they taste like chicken?????? :p Great big, slimy chicken!;)

[Ryderd65]

I wonder if they taste like chicken?????? :p Great big, slimy chicken!;)

I was thinking the same thing RocknK :cheers: (Except for the slimy part).

[rocknK]

I'll shoot it & cook it, if you clean it!!!!!:p

[TheRedHayflinger]

gah *shudders* snakes....
I do not like snakes at all...nope nope nope...

Worst time was when I found a copperhead in my bedroom...*shudder*

Thankfully we only have two venomous snakes down here in southern OH--Copperheads and Timber Rattlers...northern OH has to deal with the Massaugas.
But we have PLENTY of black rat snakes and king snakes...*shudder* I leave them alone though...the black rat snakes keep the rodent population down...and the king snakes keep the SNAKE population down!! woohoo!

Although, I did find my spotted pony flinging around a 5-6 foot long black rat snake one day...she killed it and then played with it until my grandma came up and took it from her (no..I won't even touch a dead snake..lol)

[Remali]

I guess our mosquitos up here aren't so bad after all....lol! I'll take them any day over huge snakes. ;)

[Cat]

Wow - that would be huge and quite a sight!

Last night on monsterquest they were looking for large living snakes. Found a 12 foot python but that was about it.

[YAorNEIGH]

I love snakes, but that one is just terrifying! lol! I have a baby ball python that I just got a week or so ago. :) Maybe it's his ancestor, hehe!

[outriding01]

I actually really like snakes and have always wanted one, but my parents wouldn't ever let me and all my roommates so far have not been too crazy about the idea either. I really want a Brazillian Rainbow Boa, but I would settle for a little albino corn snake, lol.
Down here, we have to deal with coral snakes, 3 different types of rattlers, copperhead, and since I live across the street from a river, with a pond in my yard, Moccasins/cottonmouths. That's one nasty snake, let me tell you!
We also have a lot of corn and rat snakes, and black racers and water snakes. My parents are constantly calling me outside to tell if a snake is venemous or not. I've tried to teach them how to tell for themselves, but it doesn't seem to take. And if I don't do it, they'd just kill them all :doh:

[John Boy]

We 're bringing back the Wolves , I see no reason not to get the DNa and get those snakes cloned back on the planet.

Let's make it fair !!

[oursarge]

I can not even think of it. I hate snakes more than anything on this earth [Sorry snake lovers]. I live in fear of them, I can't even look at a picture.