Scientists claim to have discovered fossils in Kutch that may represent the biggest snake ever discovered

According to a recent study from IIT-Roorkee, fossils found in Gujarat’s Kutch region may have belonged to the spine of one of the biggest snakes ever to have existed.

Researchers found 27 “largely well-preserved” vertebrae, or the snake’s spinal column, with part of its connections still intact, from the Panandhro Lignite mine. According to them, the vertebrae seemed to be from an adult animal.

According to the experts, the snake’s estimated length ranges from 11 to 15 meters, making it just slightly smaller than the extinct Titanoboa, which was thought to be the largest snake in history. They said that because of its size, it may have been a “slow-moving ambush predator,” akin to an anaconda. Scientific Reports is the publication where the results are published.

The newly discovered snake species has been named “Vasuki Indicus” (V. Indicus) by the researchers in honor of the mythical snake that encircles the neck of the Hindu deity Shiva. The name also alludes to the country of discovery, India. V. Indicus is a member of the now-extinct Madtsoiidae family, which is known to have lived across a wide geographic range, including Africa, Europe, and India.

The snake, according to the scientists, constituted a “distinct lineage” that originated in India and traveled from there via southern Europe and Africa between 56 and 34 million years ago, during the Eocene. The Eocene is thought to be the time when the first progenitors and close relatives of contemporary mammal species first emerged.

The fossils were dated by the authors to around 47 million years ago, during the Middle Eocene epoch.

The vertebrae, which ranged in length from 38 to 62 millimeters and in breadth from 62 to 111 millimeters, revealed that V. indicus may have had a large, cylindrical body, according to the researchers.

Based on their extrapolation, the length of V. indicus was estimated to be between 10.9 and 15.2 meters.

The researchers reported that the snake was around the same size as Titanoboa, whose bones were first found in the 2000s in modern-day Colombia, despite estimations being subject to uncertainty.