Prehistoric Snakes So Scary, Even Titanoboa Would Hide

Bright Side

You’ve heard of Titanoboa, right? That giant snake from prehistoric times that could swallow a crocodile whole? 😱 Well, scientists just found fossils of even scarier snakes that might’ve made Titanoboa think twice. These ancient beasts lived millions of years ago and were massive, with fangs and bones that suggest they were top predators. What’s wild is that they lived in a time when the Earth was super hot and steamy—perfect for giant reptiles. Just imagining these snakes slithering through the jungle is enough to give you chills!  Credit: CC BY-SA 3.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/: Madtsoia bai: By Ghedoghedo, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=4082998 Unnamed snake Messel: By Ghedoghedo, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=28918209 CC BY-SA 4.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0: Gigantophis UMMNH: By Jonathan Chen, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=152013569 Eupodophis descouensi: By Didier Descouens, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=28439504 Eoserpentes: By Ghedoghedo, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=63521500 CC BY 4.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0: JWA Titanoboa: By TheAquaticSpinosaurid/sketchfab, https://skfb.ly/pqXSG Adventurer: By Sparkykun/sketchfab, https://skfb.ly/onUHy School Bus: By Macaroni/sketchfab, https://skfb.ly/opLHr Fiat 500 x Outlaw: By Subin/sketchfab, https://skfb.ly/o6xoB Snake 3d: By Talha Riaz/sketchfab, https://skfb.ly/osKLL Striped Snake: By ffish.asia / floraZia.com/sketchfab, https://skfb.ly/oqB7O Snake: By jcsteck/sketchfab, https://skfb.ly/6V8wr Vasuki: By D. Datta & S. Bajpai - https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-024-58377-0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=147507657 ELEPHANT: By onderonvermez/sketchfab, https://skfb.ly/Xuv6 Python: By MotionStreamStudios/sketchfab, https://skfb.ly/oIFPv Anaconda attack jungle: By ayoubbenz/sketchfab, https://skfb.ly/onRsI Map Turtle: By RISD Nature Lab/sketchfab, https://skfb.ly/6VG6Z Kangaroo: By Stephengury/sketchfab, https://skfb.ly/oI6xZ Lizard: By Froggreen/sketchfab, https://skfb.ly/6WWGF CC BY 2.5 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.5: Sanajeh fossil: By Jeffrey A. Wilson, Dhananjay M. Mohabey, Shanan E. Peters, Jason J. Head - doi:10.1371/journal.pbio.1000322.g001, CC BY 2.5, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=9624507 Titanosaur sauropod: By Jeffrey A. Wilson, Dhananjay M. Mohabey, Shanan E. Peters, Jason J. Head - doi:10.1371/journal.pbio.1000322.g005, CC BY 2.5, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=9624275 Ice age fauna: By Mauricio Antón - https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pbio.0060099, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=11781070 Animation is created by Bright Side.  ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Music from TheSoul Sound: https://thesoul-sound.com/   Check our Bright Side podcast on Spotify and leave a positive review! https://open.spotify.com/show/0hUkPxD34jRLrMrJux4VxV   Subscribe to Bright Side: https://goo.gl/rQTJZz ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Our Social Media: Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/brightside Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/brightside.official TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@brightside.official?lang=en Telegram: https://t.me/bright_side_official   Stock materials (photos, footages and other): https://www.depositphotos.com https://www.shutterstock.com https://www.eastnews.ru ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------  For more videos and articles visit: http://www.brightside.me  ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- This video is made for entertainment purposes. We do not make any warranties about the completeness, safety and reliability. Any action you take upon the information in this video is strictly at your own risk, and we will not be liable for any damages or losses. It is the viewer's responsibility to use judgement, care and precaution if you plan to replicate.

Transcript

00:00Beneath the thick, shadowy canopy of a prehistoric rainforest, a silent hunter slides into the

00:07murky river waters.

00:10This is Titanoboa.

00:12Its size is horrifying, stretching over 40 feet long, which is about the length of a

00:17school bus, and weighing as much as a small car.

00:22It reigns as the largest snake ever known.

00:26This is around 60 million years ago.

00:29It's only been 6 million years since the dinosaurs were wiped out by an uninvited asteroid.

00:35Nature is slowly returning to life, the Paleocene epoch.

00:40Titanoboa's home is lush and sweltering.

00:43The air is very humid, like in a steam room.

00:46And the rivers are teeming with fish, perfect for a predator like this.

00:50Now that the dinosaurs are gone, Titanoboa becomes the queen of hunting.

00:56It's perfectly built for both power and stealth.

01:00A strong, sturdy spine can hold the snake's massive size while staying smooth and silent.

01:07Titanoboa glides through the water like a shadow, barely visible.

01:11It doesn't chase.

01:13It doesn't need to.

01:15Titanoboa waits beneath the river's surface, in darkness.

01:19A bunch of ancient lungfish meanders too close.

01:22With one surge, it lunges, its jaws snapping shut.

01:26The fish doesn't stand a chance.

01:28Titanoboa's grip is unrelenting.

01:31After the prey stops moving, the snake immediately consumes it whole.

01:36For millions of years, this snake ruled the rainforests.

01:39Nothing could challenge it.

01:41Not the prehistoric crocodiles.

01:43Not the small mammals.

01:45Not even the birds.

01:46But as it turns out, it wasn't the only apex predator.

01:51Alongside Titanoboa, there was this entire family of snakes, a huge biological tree full

01:57of snake genomes and species.

02:00Their history spans around 100 million years, all the way to the Cretaceous period.

02:06We find their fossils all over South America, Africa, India, and Australia.

02:12That's because they evolved in the Gondwanan continents.

02:15Back then, all of this was one huge landmass, and they lived right in the heart of it.

02:21This family co-existed with all the dinosaurs.

02:24The dinosaurs ruled the world back then, and the snakes couldn't be all that dangerous.

02:29They lived in the dinosaur's shadow, adapting to survive.

02:33Some of them fed on small mammals.

02:35Others waited for the dinosaur eggs to hatch.

02:38Some were super bold and went straight for baby dinosaurs.

02:43Fossils of one species showed the remains of a little titanosaur.

02:48And a giant long-necked dinosaur inside its stomach.

02:53And when the age of dinosaurs finally ended in a fiery cataclysm, it was time for these

02:57snakes to celebrate.

02:59After the asteroid disaster, the world entered a new era of heat and humidity.

03:06The warmer the client, the easier it is for cold reptiles to thrive.

03:10Snakes, including Titanoboa, grew larger than ever.

03:14But so did the members of this family.

03:18All the snakes spread across continents, growing larger and scarier by the century.

03:23And eventually, Titanoboa stopped being the only ruler of jungles.

03:29Fast forward to about 47 million years ago.

03:32Now it's the middle Eocene epoch.

03:35The tropical lowlands of what today is western India.

03:39A lush, swampy place, full of rivers and pools.

03:43The Earth was warmer, with turtles and crocodile-like creatures basking in the sun.

03:48And there evolved the largest and most fearsome predator of them all – Vasuki Indicus.

03:55Even the name feels important.

03:57Vasuki, the serpent king of Hindu mythology, a colossal snake that's coiled around the

04:03neck of Lord Shiva, strong and loyal.

04:07And the Indicus part is because the snake's fossils were discovered in India.

04:12Vasuki surpassed Titanoboa and grew to a jaw-dropping length of 50 feet, like a 4-story building.

04:20It also weighed as much as a small elephant.

04:24Unlike Titanoboa, who preferred to hunt in the rivers, Vasuki mostly hunted on land.

04:30Though it still could venture into the water when needed.

04:34It prowled the marshy ground with quiet, calculated movements, blending with the dense undergrowth.

04:41Vasuki also ate crocodiles, massive turtles, and even early whales in local water pools.

04:48No one stood a chance.

04:50It had immense muscles and squeezed with unimaginable force.

04:55But the snake's jaws were much scarier.

04:58Unlike Titanoboa and today's pythons, Vasuki couldn't swallow massive prey whole.

05:04Instead, it ate them alive with its teeth, just like this.

05:09Fast and absolutely brutal, it was an apex predator of its time.

05:15And don't forget that we're not talking about one Titanoboa or one Vasuki.

05:19These snakes were part of entire populations.

05:23In the Paleocene, rivers were full of various Titanoboas.

05:27Some were younger, smaller ones, fighting for survival, while the oldest and largest

05:32ones dominated the waterways.

05:34In the same way as generations of Vasuki and Indicus competed with each other for thousands

05:39of years.

05:42Through the years, many siblings of this family got themselves a region to rule over.

05:47For example, alongside Vasuki, this big guy was thriving in Northern Africa, in what is

05:52today's Egypt.

05:55Back then, this land was full of water and swamps.

05:58Before we learn more about other snakes, this one was considered the largest, about 36 feet

06:03long.

06:04That's still bigger than today's most powerful snakes, like the green anaconda.

06:10But then we reached the Pleistocene epoch, from about 2.5 million years ago to only 11,000

06:17years ago.

06:18Modern humans were evolving all over the world, and now the snakes had a new problem, an even

06:24worse one than dinosaurs.

06:27While we were developing brains, in Australia, there ruled the local king of snakes.

06:32Their names also come from legends.

06:35That's how indigenous Australians called their mythological rainbow serpent the creator

06:40of the world.

06:42It's like a problem of a chicken and an egg.

06:44Was the snake named after a deity, or did the aboriginal people create their deity after

06:50a snake?

06:51Ancient Australians coexisted with those predators for thousands of years.

06:55They warned their children how to avoid dangerous spots, passing down stories of the terrifying

07:00serpents.

07:01Using their legends, the great rainbow serpent was shaping the land, rivers, and features

07:06of the world.

07:07These legends were most likely inspired by the powerful nature of those snakes.

07:13If only they knew that these animals weren't even as huge as Vasuki or Titanoboa.

07:18Though they were still dangerous, Eurolungur was up to 26 feet in length.

07:24They preferred the more green and humid parts of Miocene Australia, like waterways with

07:29lush plants around the riverbanks.

07:31And there was much more potential prey.

07:34Eurolungur had a thick body as wide as a human thigh.

07:38It loved to hunt in what is today the Northwest Queensland.

07:43Its fossils were found in the limestone of River Sleigh.

07:46It was a fascinating find.

07:48The skull was almost intact, with teeth and everything.

07:52Which is crazy, considering that snake skulls are very fragile and usually don't survive

07:57fossilization.

07:59Just like snakes before it, Eurolungur didn't rely on venom.

08:02It was a constrictor, quick and powerful.

08:05But at least now, these reptiles weren't as brutal.

08:08Their hugs quickly caused cardiac arrest in their prey.

08:13So the end came rather quickly.

08:15Also, they no longer could swallow the prey whole, and didn't have the same sharp teeth

08:20as Vasuki or Titanoboa.

08:23So both Eurolungur and Wanambi had to eat very slowly, just like pythons today.

08:29Meanwhile, Wanambi was about 20 feet long.

08:32This one had a similar head, so it could only hunt marsupials, reptiles, and other little

08:37things that ventured too close.

08:40Wanambi's domain was the waterhole.

08:43It lay coiled in the shade, motionless, its body blending seamlessly with the dusty earth.

08:49If kangaroos and wallabies cautiously approached to drink, they wouldn't even notice the

08:53predator until it was too late.

08:57The Wanambi snakes lingered in Australia for millions of years.

09:01Even when the climate and ecosystem changed, it didn't bother these guys.

09:05In fact, they thrived in Australia's cooler, drier regions.

09:09Yet even giants fall.

09:12Time moved on, the earth cooled even more, and nature began to change.

09:17Wanambi managed to last up to around 50,000 years ago, and could've lasted longer if

09:22it wasn't for humans.

09:24The same aboriginal Australians who once feared Wanambi eventually spelled the end for the

09:30snake.

09:31All these years of being the apex predator, only for the little apes to hunt you into

09:35extinction.

09:36But that's how evolution goes.

09:40Eventually all the giant snakes disappeared, leaving behind only their fossils and stories

09:45like this one.

09:48That's it for today!

09:49So hey, if you pacified your curiosity, then give the video a like and share it with your

09:53friends!

09:54Or if you want more, just click on these videos and stay on the Bright Side!

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