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Thursday, February 5, 2009
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Humongous Snake Fossil Found

Illustration: Artist's depiction of a giant prehistoric snake






















Illustration by Jason Bourque



Fossils of Titanoboa cerrejonesis were unearthed in a coal mine in Colombia. Studies show that this snake, which lived 60 million years ago, was the biggest snake ever at 42 feet (13 meters) long and weighed almost a ton at 2,000 pounds (1134 kilograms). "That's longer than a city bus and ... heavier than a car," said lead study author Jason Head, a fossil-snake expert at the University of Toronto Mississauga in Canada and a research associate with the Smithsonian Institution.

Read more about the world's biggest snake on National Geographic News.

The largest living snake is the anaconda. Get more facts in the Creature Feature.

42 Comments

I used to handle snakes at the local zoo.I worked at the children's zoo.They thought that a child might calm the children.

ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!!!!!

i think this is crazy how big this snake was. i just think it is strange how they found out how heavy and long this was with just a fossil.

that's because they have better technology than they did when computers came out

Wow! That is one huge snake! It always amazes me when I think about what used to live on this Earth. Maybe someday I'll discover a fossil like that!

If it is giant,is it an anaconda or what?...

imagine how great it would be if we were able to stand beside it and watch it out.HATS-OFF to our scientists who were successful in finding about it .GREAT YA.

I'd rather for people to write about bunnies than giant snakes. because bunnies are cute and snakes aren't. snakes aren't cute because they don't drink cola like bunnies do!

Wow! That's one big snake! But I hate the part where they say, 'which lived 60 million years ago' so matter-of-factly. Some people, (Like me) believe that the Earth is just thousands of years old.

ew i wouldent like him around my neck

lookey here its just a snake chelly

This thing could eat a cow!!! No way!!! I did a report on this creature at my school.

I don't know but I think it might be a snake although it kind of looks like a lizard.

yo goat it is a snake i resd about i in da news paper

Yeah jayshawn I support you. Though the creature is out of my expectations I firmly believe it.. Did you guys ever notice that the fossils found are mostly quite big!!

but uh pratyush3as i understand what u saying but now that i really look at it,it looks like a drawin 2 me how bout u

Snakes are slimy and scary. This snake appears to be really big. I saw a snake once.

that snake is crazy!!! like its really crazy.

Goat I support you on your opinion. I think they are very scary and slimy to. I saw a snake a a zoo once and it looked very scary. I wonder if this could eat a giraffe

I would not like having this thing as a pet.

Just looking at it creeps me out!That is one enourmous,slimy,stupid and horrifing snake!I mean I like Dino's.Not like em,like em, I just like to play with them!

You seem like a very intelligent person cow30025. I wonder if it could eat a giraffe? What a wonderful question. There is a snake in The Simpsons Movie.

I think that a discovery like that is really painting a picture of what lived millions of years ago.

ladygagalover that snake is big you can tell but don't be afraid of it.

That is humungo and if that were in my or your house, then? I'l tell u that i'll surely freak out!

Goat and cow, snakes are really reptiles and have scaley skin.

well gilly person, i woul just freak out! If u think i'm a boy, then you're thinking the opposite! I would scream my skull out!

gee thats a huge snake

UMMM.... HUMUNGO I SHOULD SAY!

I think that all of you that think of this finding,You are partly offending me by saying that they are slimy,stupid,and hoorifing because I am a reptile owner and own several snakes!!!!! ]:-(

those people that think that snakes are scary,well you are nothing close to the danger that my mom had to go through as a child.

I love the gient snake fossil i wish it still was ulive but things happen

that is a giant snake

Icant believe that animal got extinct because it needed that warm air.

that's a big huge snake

that is a big snake

that is the biggest snake ever!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh run

that is a really cool snake. if i had to fight it i would lose.

cool


i do not know how much it weights or how long it is but its nasty and gross look at my face
:(

this is cool

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