Biggest Venomous Snake Ever Revealed in New Fossils

This is a cool find, ATS. Paleontologists have found what amounts to be a Ancient Snake which was said to be the largest known to man.

The tale of the enormous viper begins in 1857, when paleontologist Sir Richard Owen — the person who coined the word "dinosaur" — described 13 fossilized snake vertebrae found near Thessaloniki, Greece. Owen named the specimen Laophis crotaloides and reported it as the largest viper ever in the Quarterly Journal of The Geological Society (Vipers are one family of venomous snake, known for their hollow, retractable fangs.) But the original 13 vertebrae have been lost, and no one had ever found any additional fossils to back up Owen's claim, said study researcher Georgios Georgalis, a graduate student at Aristotle University of Thessaloniki. That is, until recently.

Now, a single vertebra, barely an inch long, found near Thessaloniki, confirms the existence of Owen's enormous viper.

These Snakes aren't the largest by necessarily by length, but by weight.

Laophis crotaloides measured between 10 and 13 feet (3 and 4 meters) long and weighed a whopping 57 lbs. (26 kilograms). Today's longest venomous snakes, king cobras (Ophiophagus hannah), can grow to be about 18 feet (5.5 m) long. But at typical weights between 15 and 20 lbs. (6.8 to 9 kg), king cobras are scrawny compared to Laophis.

It makes me think of that giant snake in Harry Potter or the giant snakes in Conan the Barbarian. What says ATS?

news.yahoo.com...

damn. Imagine walking through the jungle coming around a corner and seeing that thing coiled up right in front of you ready to strike. The biggest viper I've ever seen outside of a zoo was a diamond back rattle snake about 4 feet long in the middle of a hiking trail. I knew not to get anywhere near it because when coiled they can launch almost their entire body length. Imagine what a 12 foot version with 5 times the mass could do.

Another thing about the cobra is that even though its up to 18 feet long. It's relatively weak and can't strike any further than what it's got hoisted into the air. usually just it's neck and a portion of its body. With king cobras that can be from pictures I've seen maybe 4 or 5 feet striking range (discounting spitting cobras) a 12 foot viper could probably launch it's self 12 feet to get at you.

Very cool thread. I grew up with boas up to 10 feet so can imagine a 12 foot viper with the muscularity of a python or boa.

Holy S that is scary. Do you have any idea what
they fed on? Or what kind of venom they used?

a reply to: lostbook

I wonder how he deduced from bits of spine that the ghastly thing was a viper?

I do remember seeing somewhere that leaches grew to 12' in length some time around 12 thousand years ago and felt rather sorry for our forefathers. For me it explains why the early cities were fortified and had doors on their roofs rather than where we have them. People always seem to go for warfare and other man-made problems but I have always wondered if it wasn't the wildlife that was one of the biggest threats.

How about this beast of the old world:
TITANOBOA

Here's a pic of a 15 ft rattler found in Arizona.
I've seen one around 10 ft.
I came across a guy while hiking in North Carolina. He had been laying beside a stream for 3 days.
A big rattler hit him and snapped his leg.
Sometimes it pays to watch your step.

originally posted by: skunkape23

Here's a pic of a 15 ft rattler found in Arizona.
I've seen one around 10 ft.
I came across a guy while hiking in North Carolina. He had been laying beside a stream for 3 days.
A big rattler hit him and snapped his leg.
Sometimes it pays to watch your step.

So what happened to the guy?
You can't leave us hanging with a snake story like that...

When I see photographs like that, I can't help but be thankful I live on an island where the most threatening piece of wildlife we have are foxes and deer (and possibly the odd big cat, if you believe some stories).

However, in saying that, I'm sure the world of millions of years ago, when big animals were the norm would have been a remarkable sight to see.

a reply to: the owlbear
"So what happened to the guy?
You can't leave us hanging with a snake story like that..."

Luckily some guys on horseback were passing through. We got him on a horse and they hauled him down the trail.
Never heard anything else about him. I'm pretty sure he was going live. Worst case scenario, he may have lost a leg below the knee.

a reply to: lostbook

Did they happen to know what time strata they found it in. I always like wanting to know if something big enough to hunt certain dinosaurs lived at the some time as them/