# Awesome huge snake fossil discovered in Colombia. **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [February 4, 2009, 6:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/awesome-huge-snake-fossil-discovered-in-colombia/484447 "2009-02-04T18:00:25Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Rigamarole](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/77aa72/32.png) [@Rigamarole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rigamarole)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2009, 10:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/awesome-huge-snake-fossil-discovered-in-colombia/484447/21 "2009-02-05T22:53:45Z")
> [@astro](#): > > This is what I don’t understand. I the snake were 42 feet long and as wide-thick as [the pics & description indicate](http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/29014818/) it would have to weigh several tons not a mere 2500 lbs. > [@billfish678](#): > > 42 foot long, only 2500 lbs? > > Scientist have FINALLY proven that ancient claim. > > That snake wasnt FAT, it was just big boned 🙂 The article claims green anacondas reach 550 lbs, and Wiki quotes a “conservative maximum [length]” estimate for this species at about 23 feet. 550/23 gives us ~24 pounds/foot. So if you added another 19 feet to the green anaconda to make it 42 feet long, it would weigh ~1000 lbs. 2500 lbs is 150% heavier than that and comes out to ~60 pounds/foot, so I’d say that’s reasonably thicker and meatier. If it were “several tons” (let’s say 3 tons/6000 pounds) it would be as thick as 6 green anacondas. Maybe the artist’s rendition exaggerates its girth a little, but I don’t see 2500 pounds as an unrealistic underestimate. ---
**Author:** ![Gary\_Robson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gary_robson/32/3448_2.png) [@Gary\_Robson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gary_Robson)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2009, 1:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/awesome-huge-snake-fossil-discovered-in-colombia/484447/22 "2009-02-06T13:26:34Z")
> [@Rigamarole](#): > > The article claims green anacondas reach 550 lbs, and Wiki quotes a “conservative maximum [length]” estimate for this species at about 23 feet. 550/23 gives us ~24 pounds/foot. > > So if you added another 19 feet to the green anaconda to make it 42 feet long, it would weigh ~1000 lbs. 2500 lbs is 150% heavier than that and comes out to ~60 pounds/foot, so I’d say that’s reasonably thicker and meatier. If it were “several tons” (let’s say 3 tons/6000 pounds) it would be as thick as 6 green anacondas. Maybe the artist’s rendition exaggerates its girth a little, but I don’t see 2500 pounds as an unrealistic underestimate. Weight and length don’t have a linear relationship. If you double the length, you presumably also double the height and width, increasing the weight by a factor of eight, not two. So (to use round numbers), if a 20-foot anaconda weighs 500 pounds, a 40-foot snake of the same general proportions would weigh 4,000 pounds. ---
**Author:** ![cochrane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cochrane/32/10441_2.png) [@cochrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cochrane)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2009, 6:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/awesome-huge-snake-fossil-discovered-in-colombia/484447/23 "2009-02-06T18:12:09Z")
There is a reticulated python [living in a zoo in Indonesia](http://www.upi.com/Odd_News/2003/12/29/50-foot_python_caught_in_Indonesia/UPI-29051072723944/) which has been measured at 49 feet long and is said to weigh 985 pounds. It seems reliable to me. I have seen video footage of the snake being measured on Animal Planet, on either “Weird, True, and Freaky” or “Untamed and Uncut” or some other similar show. This is a live snake, mind you, not the skin of a dead one, which can stretch by several feet. The snake was caught in 2003, and according to the report, which was on within the last few weeks, this snake is still alive and growing and has reached a length in excess of 50 feet. ---
**Author:** ![Rigamarole](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/77aa72/32.png) [@Rigamarole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rigamarole)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2009, 7:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/awesome-huge-snake-fossil-discovered-in-colombia/484447/24 "2009-02-06T19:19:31Z")
> [@InvisibleWombat](#): > > Weight and length don’t have a linear relationship. If you double the length, you presumably also double the height and width, increasing the weight by a factor of eight, not two. > > So (to use round numbers), if a 20-foot anaconda weighs 500 pounds, a 40-foot snake of the same general proportions would weigh 4,000 pounds. Not necessarily. I was not assuming that it would remain height-weight proportionate. I was saying basically, if you take this snake here and make it 20 feet longer but keep its height and width the _same_, it would weigh 1000 pounds. Now of course the 2500 pound snake _would_ naturally be taller and wider, but I don’t see any reason to assume its height and width have the same proportion to its length as the other snake. It’s still 2.5x as heavy, and therefore reasonably thicker than the sample snake. ---
**Author:** ![Cuckoorex](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ad7895/32.png) [@Cuckoorex](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cuckoorex)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2009, 8:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/awesome-huge-snake-fossil-discovered-in-colombia/484447/25 "2009-02-06T20:17:24Z")
> [@cochrane](#): > > There is a reticulated python [living in a zoo in Indonesia](http://www.upi.com/Odd_News/2003/12/29/50-foot_python_caught_in_Indonesia/UPI-29051072723944/) which has been measured at 49 feet long and is said to weigh 985 pounds. It seems reliable to me. I have seen video footage of the snake being measured on Animal Planet, on either “Weird, True, and Freaky” or “Untamed and Uncut” or some other similar show. This is a live snake, mind you, not the skin of a dead one, which can stretch by several feet. The snake was caught in 2003, and according to the report, which was on within the last few weeks, this snake is still alive and growing and has reached a length in excess of 50 feet. [Nope.](http://www.snopes.com/critters/wild/bigsnake.asp) ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2009, 10:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/awesome-huge-snake-fossil-discovered-in-colombia/484447/26 "2009-02-06T22:28:20Z")
I just realized that one of my colleagues here in Panama was a co-author on the paper. I’ll have to ask Carlos about it the next time I see him. ---
**Author:** ![Terrifel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c68b51/32.png) [@Terrifel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Terrifel)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2009, 12:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/awesome-huge-snake-fossil-discovered-in-colombia/484447/27 "2009-02-07T00:01:48Z")
> [@Colibri](#): > > I just realized that one of my colleagues here in Panama was a co-author on the paper. I’ll have to ask Carlos about it the next time I see him. Ask him if they ever remembered to reimburse the Cerrejon people for breaking into their fossil cabinet. ---
**Author:** ![Declan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ecae2f/32.png) [@Declan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Declan)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2009, 6:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/awesome-huge-snake-fossil-discovered-in-colombia/484447/28 "2009-02-07T06:09:23Z")
> [@Kyla](#): > > How cool is that?! I wonder if we have found the origin of the dragon mythology. Declan ---
**Author:** ![cochrane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cochrane/32/10441_2.png) [@cochrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cochrane)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2009, 6:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/awesome-huge-snake-fossil-discovered-in-colombia/484447/29 "2009-02-07T06:51:10Z")
> [@cochrane](#): > > There is a reticulated python [living in a zoo in Indonesia](http://www.upi.com/Odd_News/2003/12/29/50-foot_python_caught_in_Indonesia/UPI-29051072723944/) which has been measured at 49 feet long and is said to weigh 985 pounds. It seems reliable to me. I have seen video footage of the snake being measured on Animal Planet, on either “Weird, True, and Freaky” or “Untamed and Uncut” or some other similar show. This is a live snake, mind you, not the skin of a dead one, which can stretch by several feet. The snake was caught in 2003, and according to the report, which was on within the last few weeks, this snake is still alive and growing and has reached a length in excess of 50 feet. > [@Cuckoorex](#): > > [Nope.](http://www.snopes.com/critters/wild/bigsnake.asp) Well, there ya go. It just shows how far downhill Discovery networks has become when they don’t research things closely enough. Or maybe it’s my fault for expecting a show called “Weird, True, and Freaky” to have a degree of accuracy about it. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/awesome-huge-snake-fossil-discovered-in-colombia/484447.md?page=1)