London - The fossil remains of a terrifying 50ft prehistoric snake that slithered across the Earth 58 million years ago, have been discovered in South America.
The Titanboa, which weighed up to a ton, is believed to be a distant ancestor of the anaconda and boa constrictor and could swallow a crocodile whole. Fossil vertebrae were uncovered in a Colombian mine in 2002, and in the past few months scientists have unearthed three skulls, which allowed them to pieced together a life-sized model of the snake.
It thrived in the tropical temperatures of the Paleocene epoch, when the planet was several degrees warmer than it is now.
Dr Carlos Jaramillo, a palaeontologist involved in the work, says that with rises in global temperatures, the return of this super slitherer can’t be ruled out.
But thankfully, it probably won’t be for a million years or so. - Daily Mail