Hi there. As you know, [DON’T REVEAL THE CREATURE YET] there are creatures that have
a spine-chilling effect on almost everyone. Lethal and powerful, able to adapt to different
climates and conditions, they’ve lived on Earth for millions of years, and nowadays
you can still find them on almost every continent. No, it’s not house cats. (Well maybe in
your neck of the woods.) No, I'm actually talking about snakes, those amazing legless
and terrifying beasts, that many centuries ago used to be so huge, they could have hunted
and eaten dinosaurs! Hey, I’d watch that.
Just 6 million years after the infamous Tyrannosaurus-Rex roamed the planet, another terrifying predator
took its place. Able to put most horror-movie directors to shame, it was a horrifying giant
snake. Meet Titanoboa, the biggest serpent that has ever lived on Earth. It thrived in
South American jungles after the extinction of dinosaurs, about 65 million years ago -- but
hey, who’s counting?. And it wasn’t South America back then now, was it?
So, do you remember Anaconda? No not THAT music video! – I’m talking about the MOVIE,
Anaconda, and the snake that was about to snack on Jennifer Lopez? Well, how about this:
the Titanoboa was even larger than that monster! According to the researchers who discovered
the fossilized remains of the prehistoric snake in northern Colombia, the bones in it’s
skeleton were as wide as a man's hand. For comparison, a modern anaconda's vertebra is
just a bit more than 1 inch in width. Ooh. The biggest representatives of Titanoboa grew
up to 40 ft long, which is almost as long as a semitrailer, and weighed more than a
ton! On top of that, in its thickest point, Titanoboa could be up to 3 feet wide, which
means it would reach the waistline of an adult! When the researchers examined the site where
the fossilized remains were found, they discovered not one, but eight prehistoric monster snakes
there. They also managed to figure out what was on the dinner menu for these creatures
after finding the remains of modern crocodiles' ancestors and a giant turtle that was more
than 6 ft in length at the same site! Yep, it turns out that the huge snakes were not
only perfectly capable of eating "fleshy" animals, but they could also digest shells
and bones! The only problem was that this process took significantly longer than usual.
(Hey you just ate a turtle. You in a hurry or something?)
Unfortunately, it was extremely difficult for scientists to find the Titanoboa's skull.
The problem is that unlike jaws, which are extremely powerful thanks to their muscles,
snake bones are pretty fragile. That's why they usually crumble long before the sediment
can appear over them. However, the researchers managed to find the remains of 28 gigantic
serpents, including 3 skull fragments! Thanks to this discovery, they’ve made a full-scale
replica of the snake's head, which supported the theory that it used to be one of the largest
predators of its time! (Oh boy.) In fact, had they lived at the same time,
the Titanoboa could have come out as the winner in a fight with the T-Rex! The dino, which
was one of the most feared predators of its time, was equipped with bone-crushing jaws,
powerful legs and a tail that was used to thrash its prey and enemies. Besides, this
critter had a bite force equal to that of not one, but two, great white sharks! On the
other hand, (but wait, snakes HAVE NO hands), the Titanoboa had unsurpassed constriction
skills. When the giant snake squeezed its prey, the pressure could reach 400 lbs per
square inch. In other words, the snake's enemies felt as if three Eiffel Towers were squishing
them! That's why, if the snake managed to wrap around the T-Rex, it would have easily
succeeded in bringing the dino down. (Hah!) However, the snake appeared after the dinosaurs
had been wiped off the surface of the planet. That's why its main food was smaller snakes,
mammals and birds, turtles, crocodiles, and lungfish. (No burgers. No fries.)
Well, although the Titanoboa sounds like a fascinating creature, I'm glad it doesn't
exist nowadays... But what about the longest and most powerful snakes of the modern world?
Are they really much smaller than the Titanoboa used to be? First of all, all of the biggest
snakes nowadays belong to the python, anaconda, and boa constrictor families, which are non-venomous.
Now before you relax too much about that, instead of subduing their prey with venom,
constrictors squeeze it in a death grip to consume later. (Kinda like take out.)
Some of the longest snakes nowadays are pythons. See for yourself: the biggest reticulated
python can grow up to 29 ft, which is almost as long as a London bus! (Hey let’s measure.
You hold the tape.) Green anacondas, which live in South America, don't lag behind: females
are longer than males and can grow up to 23 ft, which is three-and-a-half times as long
as your bed! (Well just think about that one tonight! He’s coiled up 3 & ½ times under
your bed! Oops, I’m sorry.) Anyway, the green anaconda is the world's heaviest snake!
At 550 lbs, it weighs three times as much as a Kangaroo.
You've probably heard that these creepy creatures can munch on animals that are much bigger
than the snake itself. Pigs, antelopes, deer, rodents, and other small mammals are regular
dishes on a large snakes' menu. But how do they carry out the impressive feat of swallowing
their prey whole? (Well let’s find out!) The answer lies in the curious construction
of the snake's jaws! When you look at how impossibly wide the reptile opens its mouth,
you would assume that either it's about to dislocate its jaws or that the jaws are actually
detachable. Both of these theories are nothing but widespread myths. (A third theory that
the snake’s been watching Games of Thrones and got really, really bored and so starts
to yawn has been discounted. Nobody gets bored with Game of Thrones.) (Back to the jaws thing.)
-You can open your mouth thanks to special joints situated between your skull and your
jaw. You may feel them if you touch the spots below your ears and open and close your mouth
a couple of times. But snakes have an extra bone on each side between their skull and
jaw. It’s these bones that allow them to open their mouths much wider than we humans
can. - But wait, that's not all! Snakes' lower
jaws are actually attached to their upper ones with stretchy ligaments. This means that
the jaws' right and left sides can move independently of each other.
- And finally, the snake's skin, as well as the body itself, can stretch to unbelievable
sizes! It has always confused me how snakes don't suffocate while they’re swallowing
their prey. But when I found the answer, it was even more shocking than I imagined! When
they’re eating, snakes push the glottis, a breathing tube that leads to their lungs,
out the side of their mouths! As a result, they can breathe and eat at the same time.
(Well, that’s handy!) Interestingly, some snakes, namely, the common
king snake, manage to dine on other snakes that seriously exceed their own size! The
thing is that the reptiles who are capable of this trick are much stronger than the others.
As a result, their constriction is 3 times more powerful than is needed to stop the blood
flow of their prey. But that's just one side of the job. Let's say, a smaller snake has
subdued its much longer prey, but now it has to fit it in its belly somehow! And that's
a really exhausting process. (They tell me.) The smaller snake opens its mouth and starts
to "walk" it over the prey by using its jaws and sharp backward-curved teeth. On top of
that, the snake compresses its body so that it moves in a set of waves that make the snake
longer and shorter, just like an accordion. With all that work done, the longer snake
gets safely packed inside the smaller one. And then the latter just needs to wait for
about 15 days to digest its prey. (Well I think I’m about as “creeped out”
as I can take for now, so…) Do you know any other staggering facts about
snakes? If so, share them with me in the comment section below! (YEAH!) Remember to hit the
like button, show this video to your friends, and subscribe to the channel to move to the
Bright Side of life!