Nature & Environment
The Largest Venomous Snake Ever to Exist Uncovered in Greece
Catherine Griffin
First Posted: Nov 08, 2014 07:46 AM EST
Paleontologists have just uncovered the largest--and possibly the deadliest--venomous snake to have ever existed. They've discovered the remains of Laophis crotaloides, a massive snake that measured between 10 and 13 feet, weight about 57 pounds, and was venomous.
The enormous viper was actually first uncovered near Thessaloniki, Greece in 1857, according to LiveScience. Yet the original 13 vertebrae that were uncovered were lost, and no one found any additional fossils to back up the original claim-until now.
Researchers uncovered a single vertebra, barely an inch long, near Thessaloniki. This vertebra backs up the previous findings and shows that this massive viper once existed. Because snake vertebrae follow predictable patterns, this single vertebra could be used by the scientists in order to predict the overall body size of the snake which, in this case, is impressive indeed.
At the time when Laophis lived, it would have existed in seasonal grasslands where winters were cool, according to LiveScience. This, in particular, is unusual for such a large snake; most massive snakes develop in the tropics where winters are warmer.
That said, the researchers still know very little about this massive viper. Snake skulls don't preserve well in the fossil record, so it's hard to determine exactly what this snake was like in the past. However, it most likely fed on mammals, such as rodents, like the vipers of today.
Of course, this viper isn't the largest snake ever found. That title is held by Titanoboa, a 40-foot-long titan that weighed more than a ton, according to the Smithsonian. While not venomous, this massive creature probably strangled its prey like the modern-day boa.
The findings were presented at the meeting of the Society of Vertebrate Paleontology in Berlin.
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First Posted: Nov 08, 2014 07:46 AM EST
Paleontologists have just uncovered the largest--and possibly the deadliest--venomous snake to have ever existed. They've discovered the remains of Laophis crotaloides, a massive snake that measured between 10 and 13 feet, weight about 57 pounds, and was venomous.
The enormous viper was actually first uncovered near Thessaloniki, Greece in 1857, according to LiveScience. Yet the original 13 vertebrae that were uncovered were lost, and no one found any additional fossils to back up the original claim-until now.
Researchers uncovered a single vertebra, barely an inch long, near Thessaloniki. This vertebra backs up the previous findings and shows that this massive viper once existed. Because snake vertebrae follow predictable patterns, this single vertebra could be used by the scientists in order to predict the overall body size of the snake which, in this case, is impressive indeed.
At the time when Laophis lived, it would have existed in seasonal grasslands where winters were cool, according to LiveScience. This, in particular, is unusual for such a large snake; most massive snakes develop in the tropics where winters are warmer.
That said, the researchers still know very little about this massive viper. Snake skulls don't preserve well in the fossil record, so it's hard to determine exactly what this snake was like in the past. However, it most likely fed on mammals, such as rodents, like the vipers of today.
Of course, this viper isn't the largest snake ever found. That title is held by Titanoboa, a 40-foot-long titan that weighed more than a ton, according to the Smithsonian. While not venomous, this massive creature probably strangled its prey like the modern-day boa.
The findings were presented at the meeting of the Society of Vertebrate Paleontology in Berlin.
See Now: NASA's Juno Spacecraft's Rendezvous With Jupiter's Mammoth Cyclone