Researchers excavating a coal mine in South America have found the fossilized remains of the mother of all snakes, a nightmarish tropical behemoth as long as a school bus and as heavy as a Volkswagen Beetle. […]
The estimated length, 43 feet, “is the same as the largest Tyrannosaurus rex that we know of, although it only weighs one-sixth as much,” he added.
The find sheds new light on snake evolution, but it also provides telling insights into climate. Because Titanoboa cerrejonensis, as it has been named, was coldblooded, the tropical climate had to be six to eight degrees warmer than it is today for a snake that large to survive.
No word yet if they’ve been spotted on any planes.
Hey, wait–six to eight degrees warmer?! How did the Earth survive?