Description
Biggest snakes comparison chart.svg
|
English:
Reupload of the
original image
by
Steveoc 86
and
Oryctolagus XL
with the addition of the fossil giant sea snake
Palaeophis
colossaeus
, second biggest snake known with size estimations of 8.1 to 12.3 meters.
[1]
Original description :
A size comparison of four different snakes; comparing large individuals of the extant
green anaconda
(
Eunectes murinus
) and
reticulated python
(
Malayopython reticulatus
) to total length estimates of the extinct
Gigantophis
and
Titanoboa
.
-
• The green anaconda is the largest (most massive) extant snake. The silhouette is scaled to 5.21 metres (17.1 ft) which was the longest measured and published in a study by Jesús Antonio Rivas that measured hundreds of anacondas.
[2]
There are reports of longer anacondas, but these reports have been questioned.
[3]
[4]
[5]
-
• The reticulated python is the longest extant snake. The silhouette is scaled to 6.95 metres (22.8 ft) which is the length of a reliably measured wild reticulated python.
[6]
A captive reticulated python named "Medusa" is reported to measure 7.67 metres (25.2 ft).
[7]
There are reports of ~10 metres (33 ft) specimens but these are questionable.
[4]
[5]
[6]
-
•
Gigantophis
is thought to be a member of the extinct snake family
Madtsoiidae
.
Gigantophis
is only known from a few vertebrae and the morphology of Madtsoiidae snakes are not very well known. However,
Gigantophis
has been estimated as one of the largest snakes to have lived. It was estimated between 9.3 and 10.7 metres (31 and 35 ft) in length by Jason Head & P. David Polly in 2004 using regression analysis (the silhouette shown here is 10 metres (33 ft)). Another similar analysis by Jonathan P. Rio & Philip D. Mannion estimated it at 6.9 metres (23 ft) (+/- 0.3 m).
[8]
[9]
-
•
Titanoboa
is known from vertebrae and skull material and estimates make it the largest snake known. In 2009, Jason Head and colleagues estimated it at 12.8 metres (42 ft) (+/-2.18 m) by measuring the vertebrae and performing a regression analysis. In a later conference abstract, Head et al. estimated a length of 14.3 metres (47 ft) (+/-1.28 m) based on skull material, and comparisons to
Eunectes
.
[10]
[11]
-
• Human scaled to 180 cm (5 ft 11 in).
References
-
↑
McCartney, Jacob A., Roberts, Eric M., Tapanila, Leif, O'Leary, Maureen A. (2018). "
Large palaeophiid and nigerophiid snakes from Paleogene Trans-Saharan Seaway deposits of Mali
".
Acta Palaeontologica Polonica
63
(2): 207–220.
-
↑
Rivas, Jesús Antonio (2000)
The life history of the green anaconda (
Eunectes murinus
), with emphasis on its reproductive Biology
(
Ph.D.
)
[1]
(
PDF
),
University of Tennessee
, archived from
the original
on
2016-03-03
-
↑
Wood, Gerald (1983)
The Guinness Book of Animal Facts and Feats
ISBN
:
978-0-85112-235-9
.
-
↑
a
b
G Barker, David (2012). "
The Corrected Lengths of Two Well-known Giant Pythons and the Establishment of a New Maximum Length Record for Burmese Pythons, Python bivittatus
".
Bulletin of the Chicago Herpetological Society
47
: 165-168.
-
↑
a
b
Murphy, John C. (2015).
Size Records for Giant Snakes
.
squamates.blogspot.com
. Retrieved on
February 17, 2020
.
-
↑
a
b
Fredriksson, G. M. (2005). "
Predation on Sun Bears by Reticulated Python in East Kalimantan, Indonesian Borneo
".
Raffles Bulletin of Zoology
53
(1): 165–168. Archived from
the original
on
2007-08-11
.
-
↑
Longest snake in captivity ever
.
Guinness World Records
(
12 October 2011
). Retrieved on
February 17, 2020
.
-
↑
Head, J. (2004). "They might be giants: morphometric methods for reconstructing body size in the world's largest snakes".
Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology
24
(Supp. 3): 68A–69A.
DOI
:
10.1080/02724634.2004.10010643
.
-
↑
(2017). "The osteology of the giant snake
Gigantophis garstini
from the upper Eocene of North Africa and its bearing on the phylogenetic relationships and biogeography of Madtsoiidae".
Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology
37
(4): e1347179.
DOI
:
10.1080/02724634.2017.1347179
.
-
↑
Head, Jason J. (2009). "
Giant boid snake from the Palaeocene neotropics reveals hotter past equatorial temperatures
".
Nature
457
(7230): 715–717.
DOI
:
10.1038/nature07671
.
ISSN
1476-4687
.
-
↑
Head, Jason (2013). "
Cranial osteology, Body Size, Systematics, and Ecology of the giant Paleocene Snake Titanoboa cerrejonensis
".
Conference: 73nd Annual Meeting of the Society of Vertebrate Paleontology
: 140-141.
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