The largest prey of a snake. Five largest snakes in the world

Any person who has ever met a snake on his way will forever remember this meeting, which cannot be pleasant. If even a harmless thing can cause fear and panic, imagine what could happen when meeting with large snake! At this moment, you don’t think at all about what the largest snake on the planet is, but, nevertheless, as sources say, the chances of dying from a snake bite are much less than from a car accident. To understand these the most dangerous creatures and learn more about them, we have prepared for you a rating that presents the largest snakes in the world.

The largest snake on the planet

Titanoboa is perhaps the largest snake in the entire history of our planet. The length of this giant was thirteen meters, although some experts say fifteen; the weight of the reptile sometimes reached a ton. Titanoboa was discovered quite recently, during excavations in a coal mine near a town in Colombia. The largest snakes in the world, photos of which we will never see in our lifetime, were found in a mine that hundreds of millions of years ago was the mouth of a large body of water. Along with the fossilized skeleton of a giant reptile, the mine contained the skeletons of many previously unknown fish and turtles. Having studied their find in detail, the experts realized that they were facing a real sensation.

According to scientists, this reptile belongs to the family of pseudopods, the same class as anacondas and boa constrictors. The skeleton of this giant really resembles pseudopods, but, as many scientists say, it seems so only at first glance, and insist on including the extinct reptile in its “own” family.

It is curious that these giants appeared after the dinosaurs became extinct. Probably, at that time, these reptiles were the largest among predators, replacing the tyrannosaurs.

On land, it was very difficult for Titanoboa to move at speed, so it did not pose any serious threat to animals capable of running. But in water, Titanoboa was very, very dangerous. Now it is difficult to establish whether she ate crocodiles or alligators, but we can say with confidence that she was able to cope with them.

Like its modern brethren, titanoboa was not poisonous, but acted with its victims like a boa constrictor - first it wrapped itself around and then squeezed.

I wonder if a creature of this size would simply die in our climate. This is why this snake is so interesting in scientific circles. To maintain vital functions, a thirteen-meter reptile needs a temperature of 30-35 degrees. Apparently, sixty million years ago this was exactly the temperature that reigned on Earth.

Now it is the longest snake on earth, the most impressive individual can be more than ten meters. True, it is more likely to meet pythons up to eight meters. The length of the record holder is, however, according to unverified data, twelve and a half meters.

The largest snake in the world, the anaconda, whose videos of its “pranks” have spread all over the Internet, reaches an average of five meters in length. The most gigantic anaconda, over eleven meters tall, was discovered in 1944 in eastern Colombia, after which it was immediately entered into the Guinness Book of Records.

Nowadays, such huge representatives of anacondas can be rarely seen; the maximum length is nine meters - this is the size of the snake living in the Zoological Society in America.

This reptile is considered the largest of its subspecies. The average length is five meters, weight reaches seventy kilograms. True, sometimes you can see individuals up to nine meters.

It can be distinguished from its previous brother by the peculiar eyes in the middle of the spots located on the sides of the python, as well as light stripes on the head of a red or pink hue. The size of this reptile is slightly smaller - the largest Indian reptiles reach six meters in length.

Longest poisonous snake on the planet, some individuals reach almost six meters. On average the length king cobra- four meters.

The reptile is a member of the pseudopod family, averaging four meters in length. It feeds on small mammals or birds, but does not disdain cold-blooded animals.

The most dangerous snake from Africa, with very strong poison. The average length is three meters, but some individuals can “grow” up to four and a half meters. The speed of movement is eleven km/h, during forced marches it can reach nineteen km/h - this is the maximum speed for reptiles.

One of largest representatives poisonous African snakes from the viper family. The average length is three meters, sometimes four. The weight of this giant is five kilograms.

These reptiles have different color variations, but the most common is brown. The most common length is two meters.

The length of this representative of the genus of giant vipers can sometimes reach two meters; perhaps, this is the largest individual of the viper family. For living creatures, the largest snake in the Caucasus is considered the most dangerous. In terms of lethality, its venom can “lose” only to the venom of a cobra. At the same time, in order to protect itself, the viper is capable of making a throw, equal to length your body, directly at the offender. A viper's bite contains fifty milligrams of poison; after it enters the bloodstream, a person feels severe pain, dizziness and nausea. If help is not provided in time, death may occur in just a couple of hours.

You can meet viper and viper in the North Caucasus, Dagestan. The viper is a huge snake with a narrow neck and a wide body. It is distinguished by an ash-colored upperparts and a dotted gray belly. Gyurza loves to settle on freshly cultivated lands, calmly conquers trees, and her jump shocks the enemy.

Snakes are one of nature's most amazing creatures. They delight and terrify at the same time appearance. The richness of the color of the snake skin can be the envy of any fashionista, and the strength and dexterity of some representatives of the snake family are legendary. Since ancient times, snakes have been idolized and feared, considered symbols of wisdom and demonic creatures. The largest snakes in the world - find out what sizes some types of reptiles can reach.

Black mamba 3 meters

Dark tiger (Burmese) python 6-7 meters

In 4th place among the largest snakes on Earth is. The average body length is 3.7 meters. But in nature there are individuals reaching 6-7 meters. The largest dark python kept in captivity reached 5.7 meters in length. His name was “Baby”. Distributed in Thailand, Cambodia, Vietnam, India, Indochina. Accidentally brought to Florida, he got along well there too. Like all pythons, it is active at night. Hunts rodents, birds, lizards.

5 meters

– in third place in the ranking of the largest in the world. In another way it is also called the African rock python. The maximum body length can reach 6 meters. The average individuals are slightly smaller - about 5 meters in length. Weight – from 55 to 100 kg. Lives in Africa. The rock python can be found in both savanna and tropical forests. An excellent swimmer and excellent tree climber. Particularly active at night. The huge size of the snake allows it to hunt large prey - antelopes, goats.
It is dangerous for humans because it has very aggressive behavior. An encounter with a hieroglyphic python can result in death. In Canada, a rock python that escaped from a pet store entered a house and strangled two little boys, 7 and 5 years old. This is not the first sad case involving a snake. In Africa, a ten-year-old boy was swallowed by an African rock python.

up to 7 meters

- one of the largest snakes in the world, leading an aquatic lifestyle. She often became the heroine of horror films, in which she reached monstrous proportions. In fact, the maximum recorded length of an anaconda is 5.2 meters, but individuals up to 7 meters long can easily be found. Theoretically, the existence of larger snakes is possible, but due to the inaccessibility of anaconda habitats, it is difficult to confirm this assumption. Lives in South America. The snake hunts reptiles (caimans, turtles), mammals and birds. Smaller snakes also become prey for anacondas. Second place in our ranking.

Reticulated python 7.5 meters

The reticulated python ranks first among the largest snakes in the world. On average, the size of this species reaches an impressive six meters. It is documented that one of the individuals living in captivity, the python "Samantha", was 7.5 meters long. Lives in South and Southeast Asia. Hunts reptiles, monkeys, small ungulates, and birds. Pets are often the python's prey.
For humans, the reticulated python is dangerous because it is quite aggressive and strong.

To rightfully bear the title “The Largest Snake,” it is necessary to amaze herpetologists with a harmonious combination of two key parameters - solid mass and outstanding length of the slippery body. Let's talk about the gigantic reptiles included in the top 10.

Reticulated python

Considered to be the longest snake in the world globe, inhabiting primarily the Southern and Southeast Asia . The author of the work “Giant Snakes and Terrible Lizards,” the famous Swedish explorer Ralf Blomberg, describes a specimen just under 10 meters long.

In captivity, the largest representative of the species, a female specimen named Samantha (originally from Borneo), grew to 7.5 m, surprising visitors to the Bronx Zoo in New York with its size. She died there in 2002.

IN natural environment habitat, reticulated pythons grow to 8 meters or more. In this they are helped by a varied menu consisting of vertebrates such as monkeys, birds, small ungulates, reptiles, rodents and predatory civets.

This is interesting! Sometimes included in its menu bats, catching them in flight, for which it clings with its tail to the protruding parts of the walls and roof of the cave.

The pythons also eat unwary domestic animals for lunch: dogs, birds, goats and pigs. The most favorite dish- young goats and piglets weighing 10-15 kg, although a precedent has been recorded for the absorption of pigs weighing more than 60 kg.

This snake (lat. Eunectes murinus) from the subfamily of boa constrictors has many names: common anaconda, giant anaconda and green anaconda. But it is often called in the old fashioned way - a water boa constrictor, given the passion for water element . The animal prefers calm rivers, lakes and creeks with weak currents in the Orinoco and Amazon basins.

The anaconda is considered the most impressive snake on the planet, confirming this opinion known fact: A reptile measuring 5.21 m long (without tail) and weighing 97.5 kg was caught in Venezuela. By the way, it was a female. Male water boas do not claim to be record holders.

Despite the fact that the snake lives in water, fish is not included in the list of its favorite foods. Typically, the boa constrictor preys on waterfowl, caimans, capybaras, iguanas, agoutis, peccaries, and other small/medium-sized mammals and reptiles.

Anaconda does not disdain lizards, turtles and snakes. There is a known case in which a water boa strangled and swallowed a 2.5-meter-long python.

Snake eater (ophiophagus hannah) is precisely translated from Latin name, which was awarded to the cobra by scientists who noticed its passion for eating other snakes, including extremely poisonous ones.

The largest poisonous reptile has another name - hamadryads. These creatures, growing throughout their entire life (30 years), swarm rainforests India, Indonesia, Pakistan and the Philippines.

The longest snake of the species was captured in 1937 in Malaysia and transported to London Zoo. Here it was measured, documenting its length as 5.71 m. They say that in nature there are longer specimens crawling, although most adult cobras fit within an interval of 3-4 meters.

To the credit of the king cobra, it should be noted that it is not the most poisonous and is also quite patient: a person needs to be at the level of its eyes, and without making sudden movements, hold its gaze. They say that after a few minutes the cobra calmly leaves the place of the unexpected meeting.

Hieroglyphic python

One of the four largest snakes on the planet, demonstrating in some cases a decent weight (about 100 kg) and good length (over 6 m).

Average individuals do not grow larger than 4 m 80 cm and their weight is also not surprising, gaining from 44 to 55 kg at maturity.

This is interesting! The slenderness of the body is strangely combined with its massiveness, which, however, does not prevent the reptile from climbing trees well at night and swimming well.

Hieroglyphic (rock) pythons live in savannas, tropical and subtropical forests of Africa.

Like all pythons, it can go hungry for a very long time. In captivity, it lives up to 25 years. The reptile is not poisonous, but exhibits outbursts of uncontrollable anger that are dangerous to humans. In 2002, a ten-year-old boy from South Africa, which the snake simply swallowed.

Rock pythons do not hesitate to attack leopards, Nile crocodiles, warthogs and black-footed antelopes. But the main food for snakes are rodents, reptiles and birds.

Dark tiger python

In this non-venomous species, the females are more impressive than the males. The average size reptile does not exceed 3.7 meters, although some individuals stretch up to 5 or more.

The animal's habitat is Eastern India, Vietnam, Thailand, Malaysia, Myanmar, Nepal, Cambodia, southern China from the island. Hainan, Indochina. Thanks to the dark man tiger python entered Florida (USA).

A dark python that lived not so long ago in the American Snake Safari Park (Illinois) was a record size. The length of this enclosure resident named Baby was 5.74 m.

The dark tiger python eats birds and mammals. It attacks monkeys, jackals, civets, pigeons, waterfowl, large lizards(Bengal monitor lizards), as well as rodents, including crested porcupines.

The python often has livestock and poultry on its table: large reptiles They easily kill and eat small pigs, deer and goats.

Light tiger python

Subspecies of tiger python. It is also called the Indian python, and in Latin - python molurus molurus. Different from its own close relative python molurus bivittatus (dark tiger python) primarily due to its dimensions: they are less impressive. Thus, the largest Indian pythons do not grow more than five meters. There are other signs characteristic of this snake:

light inclusions in the middle of the spots decorating the sides of the body;
pinkish or reddish tint of light stripes running on the side of the head;
blurry (in its front part) diamond-shaped pattern on the head;
lighter (compared to the dark python) color with a predominance of brown, yellow-brown, red-brown and gray-brown tones.

The light tiger python inhabits the forests of India, Nepal, Bangladesh, Pakistan and Bhutan.

Amethyst Python

This representative of the snake kingdom is protected by Australian law. The largest snake on the Australian continent, which includes the amethyst python, reaches almost 8.5 meters in adulthood and eats up to 30 kg.

On average, a snake’s height does not exceed 3 m 50 cm. Among its relatives, pythons, it stands out for its symmetrical and noticeably large scutes located on the upper zone of the head.

A serpentologist will understand that this is an amethyst python by the peculiar coloring of its scales:

olive-brown or yellow-olive color dominates, complemented by a rainbow tint;
clearly defined black/brown stripes across the body;
on the back there is a clear mesh pattern formed by dark lines and light spaces.

This Australian reptile shows a gastronomic interest in small birds, lizards and small mammals. The most arrogant snakes choose their victims among bush kangaroos and marsupial cuscus.

This is interesting! Australians (especially those living in the outskirts) know that the python does not hesitate to attack their pets: from afar, the snake feels the warmth emanating from warm-blooded animals.

To protect their animals from the amethyst python, villagers place them in enclosures. Therefore, in Australia, not only parrots, chickens and rabbits are kept in cages, but also dogs and cats.

Common boa constrictor

Known to many as Boa constrictor and now has 10 subspecies, differing in color, which is directly related to the habitat. The color of the body helps the boa constrictor to camouflage itself in order to lead an isolated lifestyle, hiding from prying eyes.

In captivity, the length of this non-venomous snake ranges from 2 to 3 meters, in the wild - almost twice as much, up to 5 and a half meters. Average weight- 22-25 kg.

Boa constrictor inhabits Central and South America, as well as the Lesser Antilles, looking for dry areas located near water bodies to settle in.

The food habits of the boa constrictor are quite simple - birds, small mammals, and less often reptiles. When killing prey, the boa constrictor uses a special technique of influencing chest victim, squeezing her during the exhalation phase.

This is interesting! The boa constrictor easily adapts to captivity, so it is often bred in zoos and home terrariums. A snake bite does not threaten a person.

Bushmaster

Lachesis muta or surukuku - the largest poisonous snake South America from the viper family, living up to 20 years.

Its length usually falls within the range of 2.5-3 m (with a weight of 3-5 kg), and only rare specimens grow up to 4 m. Bushmaster boasts excellent poisonous teeth, growing from 2.5 to 4 cm.

The snake prefers solitude and is quite rare, as it chooses uninhabited areas of the island of Trinidad, as well as the tropics of South and Central America.

Important! People should be afraid of the bushmaster, despite the modest mortality rates from its poison - 10-12%.

Surukuku is characterized by nocturnal activity - it waits for animals, lying motionless on the ground among the foliage. Inaction does not bother him: he is able to wait for weeks for a potential victim - a bird, lizard, rodent or... another snake.

Dendroaspis polylepis is a venomous African reptile found in the woodlands/savannas of the east, south and center of the continent. Spends most of its leisure time on the ground, occasionally crawling (to warm itself) into trees and bushes.

Compared to its relatives from the asp family, the black mamba stands out for having the longest poisonous teeth (22-23 mm). These teeth help her effectively inject poison that kills elephant jumpers, bats, hyraxes, rodents, galagos, as well as other snakes, lizards, birds and termites.

This is interesting! The most toxic snake on the planet loves to hunt during daylight hours, biting into its prey several times until it finally freezes. It takes more than a day to digest.

Any person who has ever met a snake on his way will forever remember this meeting, which cannot be pleasant. If even a harmless snake can cause fear and panic, imagine what can happen when meeting a large snake! At this moment, you don’t think at all about what the largest snake on the planet is, but, nevertheless, as sources say, the chances of dying from a snake bite are much less than from a car accident. The world's largest snakes don't have to be venomous or life-threatening, but most modern people they are still more afraid of them than of any other living creatures on the planet. We all relate to snakes differently: some keep them as pets, others see the meaning of their lives in them and associate them with them professional activity, someone fears them more than death. The last category, regardless of age, courage and views on these creatures, includes most of inhabitants of our planet. Rest assured that everyone will feel a shiver in their body when meeting the largest species of snakes on the planet by weight!

It is the largest snake that ever lived on Earth. This representative of the order of reptiles lived on the planet during the Paleogene period. Which, as we remember from the school course, took place more than 60 million years ago. This monster reached 15 meters in length, weighed more than 10 centners, and its thickness could be up to 100 cm in girth. Fossil remains were discovered in the South American country of Colombia. Scientists have found that this type of snake lived in tropical forests at temperatures of 30-40 degrees, and this is what contributed to their growth, provided there was enough food, of course. If you analyze the snakes that now inhabit our planet, you will notice that even now the most large species snakes live precisely in humid and hot tropical climate. Titanoboa is the only fossil animal that has been found in South America, living there from 65 to 55 million years BC. After eating, such a snake may not eat for many months, up to 1.5 years. After the dinosaurs went extinct, Titanoboa lived for about 10 million years. During this period she was the most big predator on the ground. On land, it was very difficult for Titanoboa to move at speed, so it did not pose any serious threat to animals capable of running. But in water, Titanoboa was very, very dangerous. Now it is difficult to establish whether she ate crocodiles or alligators, but we can say with confidence that she was able to cope with them. I wonder if a creature of this size would simply die in our climate. This is why this snake is so interesting in scientific circles. To maintain vital functions, a thirteen-meter reptile needs a temperature of 30-35 degrees. Apparently, sixty million years ago this was exactly the temperature that reigned on Earth.

Currently, another one of the largest snakes in the world lives on our planet - this anaconda. Giant or Green. It is only 10 meters long, but its weight can be 220 kilograms. However, the Green Anaconda can easily compete with the Asian Python both in size and length. The largest living snake lives in New York, in the terrarium of the Zoological Society. She is about 9 meters tall and weighs 130 kilograms. And here's the most long length anaconda, which was recorded - 11 meters and 43 centimeters. It was measured in 1944 by a petroleum geologist who was studying the jungles of Colombia and looking for deposits of “black gold”.

However, the main evidence, the body of the “anaconda queen,” was missing. According to the geologist, after stunning and measuring, the snake came to its senses and crawled away. But the herpetological world still recognized the existence of a snake of this size. Since then, a length of almost 12 meters has been a generally recognized record. He was even included in the Guinness Book of Records. In the 30s of the last century, the zoological community announced a reward of 1 thousand dollars to anyone who could prove the existence of an anaconda more than 12.2 meters long. After this, former US President Theodore Roosevelt increased the prize to 6 thousand dollars, and reduced the size of the snake to 9.12 meters. Today the payment has already increased to 50 thousand dollars, but still no one can get it. Therefore, a 9-meter specimen from the New York terrarium is apparently the limit. This gives a trump card to supporters of the leadership of the Asian reticulated python. Although the only snake of the species whose length can be estimated with one’s own eyes is one meter shorter than the anaconda from New York. The python lives at the Philadelphia Zoo.

However, it is worth noting that the remains of Giant African python, who lived 55 million years ago. Part of the spine suggests that the snake had a length of 11 meters and 80 centimeters. Today, the average length of an ordinary anaconda is about 6 meters. And cases of it growing up to nine meters are rare. The snake lives in the tropical forests of South America, in particular in the quiet backwaters of the Amazon. There the Giant Anaconda searches for its prey and guards it. It feeds on small and medium-sized mammals. She pounces on the victim, covers her with rings of her body, after which she strangles and swallows whole. An anaconda’s food is digested from several hours to several days. At this time, she does not eat anything, and also does not hunt. He just lies quietly, half asleep, in a secluded place. And, despite numerous cinematic and folklore legends, the anaconda is not dangerous for an adult. Cases of snake attacks on people are rare. Hunters, as a rule, do not experience fear when encountering anacondas. They destroy them in the same way as wolf farmers to prevent the snakes from destroying poultry and livestock.

Anacondas live in hard-to-reach places, so it is quite difficult to determine their numbers. However, it is already known that restoring the population of this snake species is not a problem. Giant anacondas are ovoviviparous. The average snake litter is up to 40 newborns. In addition, they reproduce calmly both in the natural environment and in captivity. Females and males are not picky about choosing a partner; it is enough for one to simply get into the visibility zone of the other. The largest snake on earth is not poisonous. She kills her victim by strangulation. And it doesn’t release venom like other snakes. This is the main difference Giant anaconda from the King Cobra - it is the largest venomous snake in the world. She has the most a large number of poison.

Snake eater is exactly how the name is translated from Latin, which was awarded to the cobra by scientists who noticed its passion for eating other snakes, including extremely poisonous ones.

The largest poisonous reptile also has another name - hamadryad. These creatures, which grow throughout their entire life (30 years), infest the tropical forests of India, Indonesia, Pakistan and the Philippines.

The longest snake of this species was captured in 1937 in Malaysia and transported to London Zoo. Here it was measured, documenting its length as 5.71 m. They say that in nature there are longer specimens crawling, although most adult cobras fit within an interval of 3-4 meters.

Video

Sources

http://topxlist.ru/samaya-bolshaya-zmeya/ http://best-top10.ru/samye-bolshie-zmei-v-mire.html

Bearing in mind the presence of these reptiles deadly poison, and irritability. During the period of laying and protecting their nest, these reptiles can even throw themselves at their own shadow - their behavior becomes so inadequate.

However, no one ever compares a person, for the sake of offense, with such a very formidable representative of the suborder of snakes as the python. Meanwhile, this predator is no less dangerous. Perhaps this is because even the largest snake, the reticulated python, rarely attacks a person. The man's size does not allow him to swallow it. The python is not capable of tearing the victim into pieces and chewing food. Teeth are used by reptiles only to hold the victim.

The largest snake in adulthood feeds on birds, lizards, toads, rabbits, jackals, and can hardly swallow a roe deer, antelope, a monkey, or a small crocodile. If the prey is too large, the python may regurgitate it. Due to the fact that the largest snake chooses its food based only on the size of a living creature, a child or a small person may well become its victim.

The python's jaws are extremely mobile, its mouth has the ability to stretch, which allows it to “stretch” over the killed victim like a stocking on a leg. After the prey is inside it, the predator falls into a state of hibernation: it digests food and practically does not move during this time. If the reptile is lucky enough to feast on wild boar or roe deer, the “rest” can last up to 40 days.

Reticulated pythons are often kept in zoos, because everyone wants to see what they look like (the photo shows the moment of the rescue of one of the representatives of this species, stuck in the fence of the Palaborwa Zoo).

The colors of snakes are very diverse; their backs can be covered with such a unique pattern that you can’t help but think: “Did carpet weavers copy designs for luxurious carpets from them?”

Usually this subspecies of snakes reaches a length of four to eight meters, but sometimes it can grow up to ten meters. For example, the largest snake in the world, the reticulated python, was caught in Indonesia. Its weight was 447 kg, and its length was 14.85 m. It would cost such a monster nothing to swallow a cow or a person! One glance is enough to cause panic in any living creature.

The distribution zone of the reticulated python includes Africa (to the south of South and Southeast Asia. These cold-blooded crawling creatures prefer to settle in savannas, tropical and subtropical forests near bodies of water. After all, the large python snake loves to swim and stay in water for a long time. They can crawl beautifully through trees .

Pythons differ from their close relatives, boas, in that they are oviparous reptiles. Female reticulated pythons can lay more than a hundred eggs at a time. The female python protects her clutch by curling up in a ring around the eggs. If necessary, the mother can even, by contracting her body muscles, increase her temperature in order to warm her future offspring. So it’s hard to blame a naturally cold-blooded female python for being cold-blooded towards her children.