Giant Boa Remains Found in Columbia

Rendition of Titanoboa- Art by Jason Bourque, University of Florida

Forget the movie with J-Lo, this snake is real thing. The fossilized vertebrae of a giant (43-45 foot) serpent has been discovered in Columbia. Rightfully named Titanoboa cerrejonensis (meaning titanic boa from Cerrejon, the region where it was found), this snake lived a scant five million years after the dinosaurs made their exit. Discovered in 2007 in a Colombian coal pit, this substantial serpent’s bones are making its rounds through the scientific circles now. To answer a couple pertinent questions:


How big was this snake, really?
Enormous. If you can imagine a normal yellow school bus next to it, you would still see the snake’s head poking past the bumper. If you could bring yourself to stand next to it at its widest point, Titanoboa would come up to your waist.
As for its weight? 2,500 pounds- in today’s world, there are only 8 terrestrial species that have a higher average weight.
When compared to today’s snakes, the differences are downright disturbing. A curator at the Florida Museum of Natural History at the University of Florida, Jonathan Bloch said of a 17 foot Anaconda, “A backbone from that creature is about the size of a silver dollar, while a backbone from Titanoboa is the size of a large Florida grapefruit."

Vertebrae of Titanoboa contrasted with modern day Anaconda, courtesy of Florida Museum of Natural History

How could it get so big?
Fun answer: global warming. More specifically, something called the Paleocene-Eocene Thermal Maximum (called that because it took place at the cusp of those geological eras) happened. While no one knows for sure, many geologists think that CO2 from volcanoes helped to trigger massive global warming about 55.8 million years ago. The result? Super-sized reptiles.
Reptiles are what the science crowd likes to call “ectothermic” or cold-blooded to you and me. While the exact definition is a little hard to explain, it basically means that animals with “cold blood” need warmth to get their metabolism going. It’s why you see most reptiles basking in the sun as a start to the day, and why pet stores sell heat lamps.
This morning ritual can be dangerous. Predators will pick up a frigid snake faster than a policeman on a barfing frat boy. That’s why you don‘t see alligators in the arctic.
Now, when the world is hot enough to warm a big-boned boa quickly, less time is spent warming up, and more time and energy is spent snapping up prehistoric critters, and consequently growing huge.

Giving you another reason to think about Al Gore,
Ted Rogers

Links:
Video on Titanoboa
Huffington post story
University of Minnesota biology professor's take on the subject
More from the London Times
A quite readable explanation of the Paleocene-Eocene Thermal Maximum