In 1992, I and other Bronx Zoo staff heard rumors that a giant Reticulated Python that had been captured in Borneo. In 1910, Theodore Roosevelt, long involved with the Bronx Zoo, offered a reward to the first person who presented a snake of 30 feet in length in time the reward grew to $50,000. The story of how she arrived in the USA involves a cash reward established by Theodore Roosevelt, the leather trade, animal dealers and other twists and turns. Dubbed “Samantha”, she was captured as an adult in Borneo, and eventually reached 26 feet in length and 275 pounds in weight. While “largest snake” debates are ongoing, the massive Reticulated Python I came to know was awe-inspiring by any standard. In the early 1900s, people claimed they had seen anacondas 30 feet and longer, but these assertions have never been substantiated, even though the Wildlife Conservation Society has offered a $50,000 prize for the capture of any snake 30 feet or longer.While working at the Bronx Zoo, I had the once-in-a lifetime opportunity of helping to import and care for one of the largest snakes in captivity. The natives of the area also said they had seen such lengthy anacondas. Many of these lurking serpents, often considered man-eaters, were reported to be as long as 60 feet. When the first European explorers entered South American jungles, claims of giant anacondas began being circulated. But a much better match is the South American anaconda, a water snake that thrives in rivers, lakes, and swamps and can grow longer than 20 feet. The modern equivalent of Titanoboa is the boa, which can reach 14 feet long and weigh 100 pounds. Titanoboa could squeeze as hard as 400 pounds per square inch, enough force to kill any prey alive at that time, except for perhaps marine mammals such as whales. This formidable slithering beast didn’t need venom to subdue its prey it relied on constriction.
In addition to snakes, ancient ancestors of Cerrejón lungfish and turtles grew larger than their modern relatives.Ī snake the size of Titanoboa (40 to 50 feet long, weighing 2,500 lbs, and spanning as much as three feet in width) would have ruled this hot, steamy, tropical realm, eating pretty much whatever it fancied, mainly fish, turtles, and even adult crocodiles, which, because of its massive jaws, it could have swallowed whole in one long gulp! That’s why creatures such as insects, reptiles, and amphibians can grow larger in the tropics than in temperate areas. Reptiles must absorb heat from their environment, and the more heat they absorb means more energy for capturing and eating prey, and therefore they can grow bigger.
Generally, a hotter temperature means cold-blooded reptiles such as snakes can grow larger. Seemingly, global warming had taken hold of this primeval world! How Did Titanoboa Live? Also, the average temperature was some 3 to 8 degrees Fahrenheit hotter than today and there was 50 percent more CO2 in the atmosphere. Here it rained 150 inches per year, compared to 80 inches as it does today. The Cerrejón area of this world, where Titanoboa was found, had become a different place than our modern one. (Please note that not all scientists believe an asteroid killed the dinosaurs.) At this time, dinosaurs and many other animals had gone extinct, killed by some cataclysm perhaps, though the ecosystem had rebounded dramatically. The fossils are about 58 million years old, which means this giant snake lived during the Paleocene epoch. Archaeologists discovered many vertebrae of Titanoboa, scientific name, Titanoboa cerrejonensis, as well as one skull, even though the heads of snakes are rarely found.
0 kommentar(er)
