Titanoboa cerrejonensis

Overview

Titanoboa cerrejonensis is a snake whose vertebrae alone suggest an enormous body. It became known from Paleocene fossils in tropical South America. Even after the dinosaur extinction, very different giant animals continued to live on Earth.^[1][2]

Key facts

A giant snake’s size can be understood without its entire body preserved in a single row. Researchers compared vertebrae with those of living boa relatives. A small bone can be a key to the proportions of a long body.^[1][2]

Time and place

It lived in tropical South America during the Paleocene, about 60–58 million years ago. Fossils came from the Cerrejón coal mine in present-day northern Colombia. Ancient tropical environments recorded in coal and plant fossils provide the giant snake’s setting.^[1][2]

The time range describes source context, not the complete duration of this species.

Size, form and skeleton

A 2009 study compared large vertebrae and estimated an individual about 13m long and about 1.1t in mass. These values were calculated by modelling the overall proportions of a long snake. Placing a living anaconda’s bone beside the vertebra makes the size difference more tangible.^[1][2]

Habitat and reproduction

The giant snakes and freshwater turtles of Cerrejón reveal an ancient tropical waterside ecosystem. Researchers connected these fossils with the long history of present-day South American tropical environments. Imagine warm forests and watersides together as you explore the snake’s world.^[2]

Fossil discovery

After comparisons by an international research team, fossils from the Colombian coal mine were reported under the name Titanoboa in 2009. Vertebrae brought to the laboratory attracted attention when they were identified as belonging to a giant snake. The discovery site’s name also remains in the species name cerrejonensis.^[1][2]

References

1. Giant boid snake from the Palaeocene neotropics reveals hotter past equatorial temperatures.
2. Florida Museum — At 45 feet long, Titanoboa snake
3. New pelomedusoid turtles from the late Palaeocene Cerrejón Formation of Colombia and their implications for phylogeny and body size evolution.
4. Giant boid snake from the Palaeocene neotropics reveals hotter past equatorial temperatures.
5. UF researchers name new extinct giant turtle found near world’s largest snake

Research questions

What can the size of such a large snake tell us about ancient climate? The 2009 study used comparisons with living snakes to propose a warmer equatorial environment. How to compare body size with temperature remains an intriguing question.^[1]

Observation

Examine the thickness of the long body together with the way its vertebrae connect.^[1]