YEAH we talk a lot about the Titanoboa but what about the Gigantophis Garstini – a
snek from your prehistoric nightmares that slithered along in the Northern Sahara, Egypt
and Algeria killing elephants and crocodiles as it slipped on by.
Would it have taken down a human, oh sure, but there weren’t any back in the Gigan’s
day.
Buuuuutttt what if honey was still alive today.
Hello and welcome back to Life’s Biggest Questions – the channel that loves to hit
you with a big old snake – I am your host Rebecca Felgate and today I am asking
What if the Gigantophis Snake didn’t go extinct?
Oh what a question and oh what a snake.
Before we really slide on into this video I want you guys to let me know if you have
ever held a snake?
Here is a picture of me holding one about 4 years ago.
Snake.
RIGHT THEN Gigantophis, what you got for us…also I am going to be abbreviating snakey baby’s
name to Gigan as it rolls off the tongue easier.
Cool.
Thanks.
So the Gigan slithered its last 40 million years ago and was a constrictor snake, which
means it squeezed its prey to death.
Fun.
Also fun – they were said to be adept swimmers and would wait for prey by hiding in shallow
water.
The snake was considered to be the biggest on earth, that was until the fossil of the
Titanoboa was found in 2009 In Colombia.
What does a snake have to do to stay on top?
Despite the total eclipse of the gigan – it was still YUGE.
From their fossils it is thought they measured up to 33 feet long – so ten metres…roughly
the length of a school bus.
Soo….what if these mega snakes were still out there?
Back in the day these great big snakes were pretty specific to the hot climes of Northern
Africa.
Imagining they didn’t exist is imagining them after 40 million years of evolution and
migration which is a pretty difficult task.
If we imagined them as they were back then then I guess perhaps there would have been
more giant snakes in relics from the ancient Egyptian civilization and Northern African
tribes….
Maybe they would have worshipped them or maybe if the snakes really were alive and thriving
they would have obliterated humans who we also know originated in the continent of Africa.
Perhaps we would never have crossed over into Eurasia if the deserts we had to pass were
infested with massive snakes, but then again, we seemed to have managed it in the face of
other wildlife adversity….although so far as we know nothing quote so terrifying as
a 33ft snake.
Humans probably would still have migrated in the way that we did, but we would have
to have learned how to take down a huge snake.
Snakes are pretty meaty – maybe humans would have hunted them – oooor perhaps they would
have found there to be higher competition for food with the snakes around killing medium
sized animals.
Who knows what that could have meant.
Further considering migration, it is likely that the snakes, which could swim, would have
slipped on over into other hot areas, Israel, Saudi Arabia, Yemen, the UAE, maybe up into
Iraq, Iran, Syria, Turkey….
Who knows how far these snakes could be living today – could they survive in southern Europe?
Could they have made it as far as India?
If so… like….
Woah.
If the Gigantophis hadn’t gone extinct then it really would be a sight to behold – they
would be among the largest land animals in the world today – much bigger than the biggest
Alligators, much bigger than the Great Chinese Salamander….
The current largest verified snake right now is the Green Anaconda which is still 7 - 10
ft shorter than the average of the Gigans.
Perhaps the snake would cause chaos and eat a bunch of humans, but we have managed to
get the upper hand with all other wildlife we readily encounter, so I doubt it.
More likely we would be writing horror movies about it in the style of Jaws and perhaps
some nasty people would go off out specifically to hunt the snake as a trophy…… a really
big weighty pointless trophy.
Most of us would be sensible enough to not go looking for the killer snake, but wild
life documentaries and nature shows would have our backs!
Perhaps some would exist in Zoos too….. but can you IMAGINE if they got loose!
For all the wizards out there – the parcel tongues…imagine what they could do if they
could communicate with a whopping great snake side kick!
Okay we have bordered on the ridiculous so maybe let’s quit while we are ahead….what
do you guys think would happen if the Titanoboa didn’t go extinct?
Let me know your thoughts in the comments section down below!
Also don’t forget to let me know if you have held a snake!
Comments from a similarly snakey but ultimately more ridiculous video I did last week – What
if the Titanoboa fought Cthulhu.
WELL GAMING Toast kind of hit the nail on the head….
They wrote: Ok c’mon this is just getting out of hand.
Like really who’s going to win An out of this world being who has the world at his
hands and is so scary once you see him you turn insane or One tiny snake boy?.
Totally fair.
Luv Sick YT wrote: The titanaboa is dinner for Lovecraft's squid
monster.
The titanaboa is a big snake.
Cthulhu however, is a GIANT EVIL BLOODTHIRSTY DEMIGOD.?
Evening up the score a bit Unlited Beans wrote: What if Zeus had a fight
with Cthulhu?
I guess that is more like it!