A monstrous sight: a 48-foot-long, 2,500-pound titanoboa snake is headed for Grand Central!
The good news: It’s not alive. Anymore. But the full-scale replica of the reptile — which will make its first appearance at the commuter hub on March 22 — is intended, as Smithsonan spokesperson Randall Kremer happily admitted, to “scare the daylights out of people” — actually has a higher calling: to “communicate science to a lot of people.” The scientifically scary-accurate model will go a long way toward that: If this snake slithered by you, it would be waist-high and measure the length of a school bus. Think of it as the T-Rex of snakes.
This newly discovered species, known as titanoboa (yes, the words “titan” and “boa” are in there), which lived 65 million years ago, is about to have its close-up. The New York City appearance is promoting an exhibit at the Smithsonian Institute’s National Museum of Natural History in D.C. opening on March 30, which ties in to a TV special on the Smithsonian Channel called, what else, “Titanoboa: Monster Snake.” The two-hour program airs April 1.
Remains of the titanoboa were first discovered in a Colombian coal mine in 2005. One of the researchers specializing in the Palocene era, the time after the death of the dinosaurs, was Jonathan Bloch. A vertebrate paleontologist from University of Florida’s Museum of Natural History, the scientist led multiple expeditions, along with Carlos Jaramillo of the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute. The team collected remains from the mine, which resulted in the find. Together with ancient-snake expert Jason Head of the University of Nebraska, they named the world’s largest snake Titanoboa.
Speaking on the phone to Yahoo! News, Bloch admitted that when the team was first collecting the skeletons of Titanoboa, he didn’t immediately understand what he had found until he returned to the lab. With the help of his students, he was able to identify the fossils as snakes, just much, much bigger than the ones of today. He described the enormous vertebrae as “sort of like if you saw a mouse skull the size of rhino skull.”
The predator, which is related to a boa constrictor but actually behaved like an anaconda, lived in water and fed on fish, other titanoboas, and crocodiles (very, very large crocodiles).
If this sounds like Hollywood’s next blockbuster, Bloch noted that this time around, truth is actually bigger than fiction: The predator from the movie ” Anaconda,” for one, is not as big as titanoboa. “This is really an example where reality and the past have exceeded the imaginations of Hollywood.”
Claudine Zap
Snakes. Why did it have to be snakes?
amazing
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stupit!
That April 1st date for the show on the Smithsonian channel makes this whole article mighty suspicious.
MONTHS read my comment as soon as threaded The Honeymooners show had Landlord try and raise the rent all he had to do "Down to the STATE"–"Got all that permission"paper for Gleason Apartment and Ralph was there wih Audrey Hepburn before Gleason returned from calm down Counselor said all he had to do was repeat "Quote" in You Tube Video on any internet or phone the rents raise was 15% my calculations $70.00 monthly per apartment that wa back in 1950's year.
this is real ??
Watch out for snakes!
It's kinda big…i guess.
Big snake with wings in new york! he died, but now he's back to life! and he's headed for each state. The traveling snake. who would have thought? Next destination? Disney World. Cause a snake has dreams too.
I saw a flying snake right hear in Edmonton, It was about 500" long and aprox 20 feet around. It landed on top of west emdonton mall
نهاركم سعيد يا أعزائي يا أهلى الشويحات وكل عام وانتم بخير قبل الزحمة
i had never in my life such a snakes before
is anaconda a really snake ?
Yes Anaconda is a real snake largest known to man …..
You Went Full Retard, Never go Full Retard.
that shit is not real man
new characteristic with the Monster Tones will be best headset may be stolen on the exterior and it also mutes all the music. There isn't a searching to your bottom line so that you can push silence and even temporary halt, simply a rapid engage.
Im Sick of these mother Fn snakes on my mother Fn Plane ….. True Story
Online Exposure and Internet Marketing ?
It's really a very large snake. Is snake is still alive today?
No Its Extinct.
is real, life in brazil, amazonia
This Snake lived 65 million years ""AGO""!!
wtf….? r u kiddin me.
This snake Has Lived 65 Million years Ago and Yes Its real But.., Extinct
really that is SO cool
that titan-boa is bigger than anaconda????
Yes, Alot Bigger.
I got your monster snake right here.
hi,there
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It's dont real
What is a Titanboa? I know it is a snake but how is it related to modern snakes.
It's a giant boa, approx. 48/49 feet long that possibly lived when the dinosaurs did, and may pontentially be a direct ancestor to the boa constrictor. I only just found out about it myself, but that's my understanding of it as of rit now.