Titanoboa: Model Of Prehistoric Snake, World's Biggest, To Appear On TV And At Natural History Museum

What's the world's biggest snake? Experts say it's the reticulated python, specimens of which can exceed 20 feet in length. But these big guys are pipsqueaks compared to titanoboa (titanoboa cerrejonensis). This colossal constrictor measured more than 45 feet in length and tipped the scales at a ton, Time magazine reported in 2009. That makes it the largest snake ever to have lived.

Titanoboa died out with the dinosaurs nearly 60 million years ago--good news for those who are afraid of snakes (ophidiophobes). But the giant serpent is set to make a comeback of sorts. In conjunction with an upcoming Smithsonian Channel show about titanoboa, the National Museum of Natural History in Washington, D.C. is set to display a scientifically accurate, life-sized model of the snake on March 30, according to a written statement released by the channel.

The model represents a 48-foot snake that would have tipped the scales at 3,000 pounds, according to the statement. It is based in part on a fossilized bone of titanoboa that was discovered in a Colombian coal mine in 2002. After its stint at the museum, the snake model is scheduled to make appearances at other museums across the country starting in the fall of 2013.

The two-hour program, called "Titanoboa: Monster Snake," is set to premiere on the Smithsonian Channel on Sunday, April 1 at 8 p.m. ET/PT.

Comments

[LMPE]

09:21 PM on 03/25/2012

I can see it all now. The model gets exposed to some chemical and comes to life, and the next thing you know, all those '50s B movies have come true! Fortunately, we have Samuel L. Jackson to fight it.

[mjoutfit]

12:16 AM on 03/24/2012

Ophidiophobes, huh? It would be more practical to have a fancy latin name for those few souls who are not unreasonably afraid of snakes.

[xiolin]

01:01 AM on 03/24/2012

So true...

[LMPE]

09:22 PM on 03/25/2012

That's a Greek word, not Latin. I guess that a word for someone who's not afraid of snakes would be antiophidiophobe.

[mjoutfit]

12:22 AM on 03/26/2012

Latin, Greek... it's all Swahili to me. Thanks. "Antiophidiophobe", huh? Works for me.

[viciousvirago]

05:18 PM on 03/23/2012

What did they eat? Anything and everything they wanted. I would have liked to see a t rex take him on, but they lived during different times.

I took my son when he was little to the National Zoo and we watched the boas and pythons and all I could think of was the old Charmin commercial: please don't squeeze the Charmin.

[madfam004]

04:24 PM on 03/23/2012

Donald Trump still holds the title as the biggest snake so far.

[viciousvirago]

05:20 PM on 03/23/2012

Good one, but I'm sorry to say he's only in the running with most hedge fund traders and CEOs who make l00,000 times what a secretary makes in their lifetimes.

[xiolin]

01:01 AM on 03/24/2012

not Romney?

[Wall Lizard]

04:11 PM on 03/23/2012

John Aglionby The Guardian, Monday 5 January 2004

Stay still, will you?
Last week the reptile world was rocked by the news that a 14-metre python had been discovered in Indonesia. Could a snake really be so long? There was only one way to find out - we sent John Aglionby along with a tape measure
http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2004/jan/05/animalwelfare.indonesia

[crakrman79]

03:43 PM on 03/23/2012

Don't they already have a model of this snake on display in Kentucky? You know, in the diarama where the caveman with a gold chain has a saddle on it racing the other caveman on driving the T-Rex?

[LMPE]

09:23 PM on 03/25/2012

"When the end of the world comes, I want to be in Kentucky because it's always twenty years behind." - Mark Twain

[MrsDenby]

01:04 PM on 03/23/2012

60 million years ago isn't in the bible, so I don't believe in it.

[brettoshd]

01:19 PM on 03/23/2012

Absolutely the most ridiculous statement I have ever heard!

[Correct123]

02:46 PM on 03/23/2012

All of these pythons became extinct because the earth is flat and they slithered off the edge of the earth.

[JBS]

06:04 PM on 03/23/2012

Poe's Law - Without a winking smiley or other blatant display of humor, it is utterly impossible to parody a Creationist in such a way that someone won't mistake it for the genuine article.

http://rationalwiki.org/wiki/Poe%27s_Law

[Partha Mishra]

01:58 PM on 03/23/2012

Here are some nuggets of information for you. It used to eat crocodiles, which evolved 200 million years ago along with the earliest Dinosaurs. Your humble cockroach and sharks in the ocean are even older (350 million years at least), but of course who are we to question the fact that the earth is the center of the universe (or not)?

[harvardu98]

01:00 AM on 03/23/2012

I beg your pardon! Mine is larger.

[DrKMcK1]

12:58 AM on 03/23/2012

I've loved snakes and nearly bought a Boa Constrictor before my daughter was born. Unfortunately, I didn't have enough money on me at the time. Once my daughter was born I didn't want exotics in the house. She's grown now and I have a Chihuahua and 4 hamsters. I have had birds, dogs, cats, gerbils, guinea pigs, rabbits, frogs, salamanders, a gila monster, an alligator (Someone dropped him off in our basement knowing we loved animals), and of course, turtles while growing up. I've pet HUGE snakes at country reptile houses and loved it. I do think I would be a mite leery about something as big as the ones in this article.

[konviser]

06:53 PM on 03/23/2012

Wow.

[DrKMcK1]

02:45 AM on 03/24/2012

LOL.

[piewudzi]

09:46 PM on 03/23/2012

Impressive! You really have a mini- zoo.

[DrKMcK1]

02:44 AM on 03/24/2012

No, no. Had. Right now I only have the Chihuahua and the 4 hamsters. LOL. I grew up disabled and my dad let me have just about any animal I laid my eyes on. It was really great having those experiences. Acutally I'm retiring and planning on breeding hamsters. My sister thinks I'm crazy, but that's okay. A little nuttiness is a GOOD thing. LOL :-)

[Lori Duke Hanna]

03:52 PM on 03/23/2012

LMFAO

[memery]

01:15 AM on 03/24/2012

...and then you realized you were wrong.

OBAMA 2012!!

[Edwin Keever Jr]

10:38 PM on 03/22/2012

Was this the talking snake they talked about in the bible? What was the devils name?

[memery]

01:16 AM on 03/24/2012

That would be "Dick Cheney."

[SpectroliteVT]

10:23 PM on 03/22/2012

Largest snake KNOWN. There could have been bigger whose fossils we just haven't found. The media really needs to start using that qualifier more.

[masterdaddy0]

02:49 PM on 03/23/2012

KNOWN. That's they keyword here, there could be bigger snakes from the past, but we don't KNOW of any at the moment.

[joannevlavender]

09:28 PM on 03/22/2012

It's premiering April 1???? April Fool.

[Outdated cowboy]

09:19 PM on 03/22/2012

Just think of all those cowboy bootssss.

[Gregster]

09:13 PM on 03/22/2012

One question: I thought anacondas had been documented at 27' or are they considered a part of the retic family?

[kelton Knutson]

03:36 PM on 03/23/2012

A quote from the story that you may not have read

"Experts say it's the reticulated python, specimens of which can exceed 20 feet in length. But these big guys are pipsqueaks compared to titanoboa"

[JBS]

06:20 PM on 03/23/2012

There are "unconfirmed rumors" of Anacondas that long, or longer, but the longest "scientifically measured" length recorded for an Anaconda is 17 ft 1 in. as compared to 22 ft 8 in for a Reticulated Python.

The Wildlife Conservation Society (Bronx Zoo) has a standing offer of a $50,000 reward for any live, healthy snake specimen of 30 ft or more.