With the mass extinction event that marked the end of the Mesozoic, those animals that remained, rapidly diversified and took up most of the ecosystem niches left vacant by the demise of the dinosaurs. Mammals rapidly evolved and diversified and soon all the Orders that we know today were established. However, those reptiles that had outlasted the dinosaurs also took the opportunity to exploit new environments and those places in the food chain left empty by the dinosaurs. Fossils of one of the largest snakes known to science have just been unearthed in South America, and this new snake named Titanoboa would have probably been the apex predator in its jungle environment.
Giant Snake Fossil
The Palaeocene epoch lasted approximately 10 million years (65-55 million years ago). The world slowly recovered from the catastrophes that had led to the extinction of approximately 60% of the life on Earth. Within a few hundred thousand years of the end of the Mesozoic, planet Earth was covered in lush rain-forest, jungle and swamps. Global temperatures rose to an average of 28 degrees Celsius and humidity increased permitting gigantism in creatures as diverse as insects, birds and reptiles. Our planet had not experienced such a "hot house" environment since the Jurassic and those types of animals that had survived the extinction event soon found themselves in a lush, warm, humid environment, so warm in fact that tropical rain-forest and jungle stretched from the tips of Chile and South Africa right up to beyond the Canadian border. European countries such as Germany and Poland had similar climates as did much of China in the east. Even the United Kingdom was covered in tropical rain-forest (hard to believe considering the icy conditions that we have had this week).
Cold-Blooded Reptiles Thrive on "Greenhouse" Planet Earth
With cold-blooded animals such as snakes, the temperature and availability of food can affect the potential size of a species. With such a warm climate, the absence of major predators such as the Theropod dinosaurs, snakes were able to exploit the conditions and truly huge forms began to evolve.
The fossils of this new genus of snake, believed to be a constrictor like a boa or the giant Anaconda of South America, were found at an open cast mine in northeastern Columbia. Along with the giant bones of the snake, fossils of crocodiles and turtles were also discovered, perhaps these other reptiles made up a large part of this Titanoboa's diet.
Fearsome Predator
Estimating the size of the snake based on comparisons with extant species indicates a length of 15 metres with a weight in excess of 1,200 kilogrammes. Fossils of large snakes have been discovered in South America before. An example would be Madtsoia bai, a huge constrictor known from fossils discovered in Argentina in the mid 1930s. This particular species was believed to be up to 12 metres long, huge by modern snake standards but still 20% smaller than Titanoboa.
Commenting on the new discovery, Jack Conrad a snake expert at the American Museum of Natural History in New York stated that Titanoboa probably weighed more than a bison and was longer than a city commuter bus. It could easily have eaten something as big as a modern-day dairy cow. A human being would have been a mere "snack" for this creature.
The details of this discovery is published in an edition of the scientific journal "Nature".
un crocodile se fait engloutir par un énorme... by MersEtOceans
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/7433932
Giant Snake Fossil
The Palaeocene epoch lasted approximately 10 million years (65-55 million years ago). The world slowly recovered from the catastrophes that had led to the extinction of approximately 60% of the life on Earth. Within a few hundred thousand years of the end of the Mesozoic, planet Earth was covered in lush rain-forest, jungle and swamps. Global temperatures rose to an average of 28 degrees Celsius and humidity increased permitting gigantism in creatures as diverse as insects, birds and reptiles. Our planet had not experienced such a "hot house" environment since the Jurassic and those types of animals that had survived the extinction event soon found themselves in a lush, warm, humid environment, so warm in fact that tropical rain-forest and jungle stretched from the tips of Chile and South Africa right up to beyond the Canadian border. European countries such as Germany and Poland had similar climates as did much of China in the east. Even the United Kingdom was covered in tropical rain-forest (hard to believe considering the icy conditions that we have had this week).
Cold-Blooded Reptiles Thrive on "Greenhouse" Planet Earth
With cold-blooded animals such as snakes, the temperature and availability of food can affect the potential size of a species. With such a warm climate, the absence of major predators such as the Theropod dinosaurs, snakes were able to exploit the conditions and truly huge forms began to evolve.
The fossils of this new genus of snake, believed to be a constrictor like a boa or the giant Anaconda of South America, were found at an open cast mine in northeastern Columbia. Along with the giant bones of the snake, fossils of crocodiles and turtles were also discovered, perhaps these other reptiles made up a large part of this Titanoboa's diet.
Fearsome Predator
Estimating the size of the snake based on comparisons with extant species indicates a length of 15 metres with a weight in excess of 1,200 kilogrammes. Fossils of large snakes have been discovered in South America before. An example would be Madtsoia bai, a huge constrictor known from fossils discovered in Argentina in the mid 1930s. This particular species was believed to be up to 12 metres long, huge by modern snake standards but still 20% smaller than Titanoboa.
Commenting on the new discovery, Jack Conrad a snake expert at the American Museum of Natural History in New York stated that Titanoboa probably weighed more than a bison and was longer than a city commuter bus. It could easily have eaten something as big as a modern-day dairy cow. A human being would have been a mere "snack" for this creature.
The details of this discovery is published in an edition of the scientific journal "Nature".
un crocodile se fait engloutir par un énorme... by MersEtOceans
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/7433932
