In the modern earth, snakes are a very common reptile, except for the north and south poles, they are widely found in other regions, and their species are as high as more than 3,000 species. If you want to ask how big the biggest snake in the world is, the first thing to mention is the reticulated python and the green anaconda (also known as the amazon anaconda).
According to highly credible records, the reticulated anaconda is the longest snake in the world today, and its ultimate body length can be close to 10 meters, while the green anaconda is the heaviest snake in the world today, their ultimate weight can be as high as more than 200 kilograms, relatively speaking, the maximum weight of the reticulated anaconda can only reach about 150 kilograms at most, so we usually think of the green anaconda as the largest snake in the world.
However, the reticulated python and the green anaconda can only dominate within the range of "the world's existing snakes", and the origin of snakes can be traced back to about 143 million to 167 million years ago, after such a long time, in fact, there are many species of snakes that have become extinct, if we expand the scope of discussion to include those snakes that have become extinct, then the largest known snake in the world should be a much larger snake than them - the titan python.
In 2002, a group of researchers from the University of Florida and the Smithsonian College conducted a field expedition in the area near the Celejón coal mine in Colombia.
During the excavation, the researchers stumbled upon a giant vertebrae, which they initially thought was left by a giant crocodile and brought it back to the lab, but on further study, Jonathan Bloch, a paleontologist from the University of Florida, was surprised to find that it was actually the vertebrae of a giant snake.
The discovery quickly attracted the attention of the paleontological community, as the giant snake's vertebrae were so large that they far exceeded the size of the green anaconda.
(↑ On the left is the vertebrae of the green anaconda, and on the right is the fossilized vertebrae found this time)
In the days that followed, researchers conducted a large-scale search of the area and found many fossils left behind by the giant snake, which later studies showed that these fossils date back to about 58 million to 60 million years ago, and they belong to 28 giant snakes.
The serpent was later named the Titanoboa, and paleontologists modeled the fossils they left behind using a computer to estimate that they were all very large, with the largest of them measuring about 14.3 meters and weighing about 1,135 kilograms.
It can be seen that both in terms of body length and weight, the reticulated python and the green anaconda cannot be compared to the titan python, in fact, even among all known snakes (both extant and extinct), the titan python is the largest snake, and far exceeds the other species.
Paleontologists speculate that the titan python was supposed to be an aquatic snake that lived in tropical rivers, lakes, and swamps, and was the apex predator of the time, preying on animals of all sizes, including fish, birds, mammals, and other reptiles, and even giant crocodiles of the period, most likely on their "menu".
An important reason why the Titan Python is so large is that they lived during the period of the "Paleocene-Eocene Extreme Heat Event".
During this period, there was a massive volcanic activity on Earth, which released large amounts of carbon dioxide, and these greenhouse gases caused the global temperature to rise so much that the average temperature at that time was about 5 to 8 degrees Celsius higher than it is now, which led to the melting of polar ice caps, rising sea levels, expanding rainforests, and increasing swamps and wetlands.
Paleontologists believe that these environments provided ample food and water for the titan python, as well as a warm and humid climate, and since they are cold-blooded, their metabolism is closely related to the ambient temperature, so when the ambient temperature increases, their metabolism also rises accordingly, which promotes their continuous development of large size, and eventually evolved into the largest known snake in the world.
However, the glory of the titan python did not last long, after the end of the "Paleocene-Eocene extreme heat event", the temperature of the earth began to gradually decrease, and they also declined due to the continuous reduction of habitat and food, and in the late Eocene, about 40 million years ago, this huge snake became extinct, and now we can only imagine their demeanor through fossils.