Titanboa (Titanic) Boas

Fossil hunters in Columbia, recently discovered the remains of snakes so large (see photo of an artists rendition above), they are calling them Titanboas. These giants were believed to have slithering around the Earth about 58 million years ago.

Based on the size of the eight vertebrae found, the snake is estimated to have been at least 45 ft (13m) long, as wide as a human waist and weighed more than one ton.

Alongside the snake fossils, were remains of the groups lunch - a 2m long turtle and a pre-historic crocodile.

The find is very important because it provides scientists with an insight to the animals that replaced dinosaurs following their sudden disappearance, 65 million years ago. it also gave the researchers an insight on what the weather may have been like during the pre-historic times.

That's because research has shown that cold-blooded animals thrive in warmer weather and grow a lot bigger. The size of the fossils seem to indicate that the weather in the Colombian rainforests was about 5 degrees Celsius hotter, than it is now.

While the largest living snakes today, the reticulated python and the Anaconda, grow only to a maximum of 9 meters, they still seem to enjoy the same cuisine - crocodiles, fresh-water turtles and fish.

Sources: Guardian.co.uk, Dailymail.co.uk