Once upon a time, there was a creature so terrifying and huge that the mere thought of it gave us goosebumps. This fearsome creature was called Titanoboa, and it was the largest snake known to have ever existed. It roamed the earth about 60 million years ago. That period was called the Paleocene epoch. Fortunately, you don’t have to worry about encountering this bone-crushing beast today, but the image of a giant prehistoric snake slithering through South America is enough to send shivers down your spine.
Colombia is the only known fossil habitat of Titanoboa. These precious remains of the past have given paleontologists insight into the incredible size of these ancient reptiles. Based on their calculations, Titanoboa could have grown to an astonishing length of 42 to 49 feet (12.8 to 14.9 m) and weighed a whopping 2500 pounds (1134 kg).
Just imagine a snake that has grown to 3 feet (0.9 m) in diameter! In comparison, like the anaconda, it reaches a length of 20 feet (6.1 m) and can weigh more than 500 pounds (227 kg). Titanoboa was truly the size of a giant among its modern counterparts.
Titanoboa was discovered in the early 21st century at Cerrejón, a coal mine in northern Colombia. It began in 1994 when a Colombian geologist named Henri Garcia stumbled upon a fossil. He called it a “petrified branch” and placed it in a coal company display case.
During a field trip to Ceres, Fabiani Herrera, a geology student at the time, discovered fossilized plant remains. This discovery piqued the interest of paleontologists who organized an expedition to further explore the area. Among the researchers involved in the expedition was Scott Wing, curator of fossil plants at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of Natural History. He identified the fossil as part of a jaw.