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The bone on the right is the back bone of a large boa constrictor
The bone on the left is the back bone of the Titanoboa.
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In 2009 Scientist found the back bone of a large snake in the Carrejon, Northern Amazon, in a coal operation site. Scientist determined the bone belonged to a large reptile that was part of the boidae family and lived around the middle Paleocene era around 60 million years ago. They called it Titanoboa.Its name is a combination of "Titanic" because of its size and "Boa" because of its close relation to Boa snakes.
The closest living relative to the Titanoboa today is the boa constrictor. Just like the boa constrictor the Titanoboa squishes and suffocated its prey to death and then it would swallow its prey whole. The Titanoboa was about 49 feet long, weighed about 2,500 pounds and could apply about 400 pounds of pressure per square inch . In other terms it is like being squished by the weight of three Eiffel towers. Just like all snakes Titanoboa had a quadrate bone that gave it free horizontal and vertical movement of its lower two piece jaws. The jaws were connected by an elastic ligament that moved independently and allowed it to eat lager prey several times its head size.
When the Titanoboa lived in the Amazon the climate was different than it is today. The environment back then was hotter and more humid and filled with large swampy jungles.Today the Amazon receives about 80 inches of rain but during the Paleocene time period the Amazon receives over 150 inches of rain per year. It was an area filled with deep rivers and large forest plants and trees.
The closest living relative to the Titanoboa today is the boa constrictor. Just like the boa constrictor the Titanoboa squishes and suffocated its prey to death and then it would swallow its prey whole. The Titanoboa was about 49 feet long, weighed about 2,500 pounds and could apply about 400 pounds of pressure per square inch . In other terms it is like being squished by the weight of three Eiffel towers. Just like all snakes Titanoboa had a quadrate bone that gave it free horizontal and vertical movement of its lower two piece jaws. The jaws were connected by an elastic ligament that moved independently and allowed it to eat lager prey several times its head size.
When the Titanoboa lived in the Amazon the climate was different than it is today. The environment back then was hotter and more humid and filled with large swampy jungles.Today the Amazon receives about 80 inches of rain but during the Paleocene time period the Amazon receives over 150 inches of rain per year. It was an area filled with deep rivers and large forest plants and trees.
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