Fossils of giant prehistoric snake discovered in India

Paleontologists have identified a massive prehistoric snake species that lived in modern-day India approximately 47 million years ago, ScienceDaily Archaeology and Science Daily reported. The extinct reptile, named Vasuki indicus, may have reached lengths between 10.9 meters and 15.2 meters, or up to 50 feet. Scientists suggest that the enormous size of the animal made it a slow-moving ambush predator that operated similarly to a modern anaconda. [1][2][4]

The size estimates make Vasuki indicus comparable to Titanoboa, which was previously recognized as the largest snake known to science, according to ScienceDaily Archaeology. The discovery indicates that the newly identified reptile was the largest known member of the Madtsoiidae family. [1][4]

Vasuki indicus is the sole species in the genus Vasuki and dates to the Middle Eocene epoch. Fossil remains of the reptile, consisting of several vertebrae, were recovered from the Naredi Formation in India. [4]

Determining the precise dimensions of extinct animals involves inherent limitations because incomplete fossil records mean sizes are frequently estimates. Soft tissues rarely fossilize, which leaves body mass calculations as largely conjecture subject to biomechanical constraints. [3]