As of: March 6, 2024, 5:45 a.m
By: Sophie Kluß
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A sensational find is causing a sensation among experts: the largest snake species in the world is a “giant” and is astonishing for various reasons.
What is probably the largest snake species in the world to date has been discovered in the Amazon region.
The animal is the northern green anaconda.
According to the British online newspaper
The Independent,
it will be up to 7.50 meters long and weigh up to 500 kilograms.
This means that it is not only significantly longer, but also heavier than its counterparts.
This is reported by t-online,
among others
.
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Northern green anaconda is probably the largest snake in the world
Until now, the green anaconda, one of the four anaconda species known to date, was considered the largest snake in the world.
The northern green anaconda (Eunectes akayima) is now considered a new species that is 5.5 percent genetically different from the southern green anaconda (Eunectes murinus) - a significant difference considering that humans and chimpanzees are only close to each other differ by around two percent.
A group of scientists, including the Dutch biologist Prof. Dr.
Freek Vonk, published the results of their research in the scientific journal
MDPI
.
Vonk also posted spectacular video footage of swimming with a snake on his
account.
According to him, the animal is “the largest anaconda I have ever seen.”
However, the huge snake is a southern green anaconda and therefore not the newly discovered snake species, which is said to be even larger than the animal in the video.
The world's largest squirrel lives in India.
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The new snake species was found in Ecuador as part of a research trip for a new National Geographic documentary with Hollywood actor Will Smith and was ultimately named the northern green anaconda, according to
t-online.
What a size – as thick as a car tire and with a head the size of my head.
Its length is difficult to estimate, but considering that I am 196 centimeters tall, you can see that it really is a GIANT!
🐍💚
The Dutch biologist Prof. Dr.
Freek Vonk about the largest snake species in the world to date, the southern green anaconda
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In his post on
, Prof. Dr.
Vonk also described the find as “one of the highlights of my scientific career.”
“The anacondas that live in the rivers and wetlands of South America are known for their lightning-fast attacks and their ability to kill prey by wrapping themselves around them, strangling them and then swallowing them whole,”
t-online
also informs.
But humans would not be among their prey.