Have a Look at Eunectes Akayima, Our World’s Longest, Largest, Newest Snake
A team of scientists – and a couple of lucky television crews – have “discovered” what is being characterized as the world’s largest snake, a giant anaconda. The team, led by biologist Bryan Fry of the University of Queensland, captured and studied several specimens of the northern green anaconda (Eunectes akayima), located in the Ecuadorian Amazon.
“The size of these magnificent creatures was incredible,” Fry says in a university press release. “One female anaconda we encountered measured an astounding 6.3 meters [21 feet] long.”
Although the big snake find is being touted as a “discovery,” the existence of the giant anaconda has been known for some time, but had been incorrectly grouped with a similar species in the southern Amazon. The Queensland team’s analysis determined the two species had in fact diverged some eight million years ago and were less related, genetically, than humans are to chimpanzees.
The scientists were welcomed by an indigenous group that led to the find. “Our team received a rare invitation from the Waorani people to explore the region and collect samples from a population of anacondas, rumored to be the largest in existence,” says Fry. “The indigenous hunters took us into the jungle on a 10-day expedition to search for these snakes, which they consider sacred.”
Also tagging along on the excursion were two film crews, one for an upcoming nature program, “Pole to Pole with Will Smith” and the other Dutch biologist Freek Vonk’s program, “Studio Freek.”
“These are top predators, which have a major influence on their entire environment,” says Vonk. “Now that we know this new species, we have to investigate what it needs to survive, how it differs from the anaconda we already knew.”
The new species is described in the journal Diversity. Underwater footage of the big new snake is here.
Bryan Fry
Photo credit: Studio Freek via Youtube
