Monster Titanoboa Snake Invades New York (43' Prehistoric Snake Weighed 2,500 lbs.)

Yahoo! News ^ | March 21, 2012 | Claudine Zap

[DogByte6RER]

Monster titanoboa snake invades New York

New York commuters arriving at Grand Central Station were greeted by a monstrous sight: a 48-foot-long, 2,500-pound titanoboa snake.

The good news: It's not alive. Anymore. But the full-scale replica of the reptile -- which made its first appearance at the commuter hub -- is intended, as Smithsonian spokesperson Randall Kremer happily admitted, to "scare the daylights out of people" -- actually has a higher calling: to "communicate science to a lot of people." The scientifically scary-accurate model will go a long way toward that: If this snake slithered by you, it would be waist-high and measure the length of a school bus. Think of it as the T-rex of snakes.

This newly discovered species, known as titanoboa (yes, the words "titan" and "boa" are in there), which lived 65 million years ago, is about to have its close-up. The New York City appearance is promoting an exhibit at the Smithsonian Institute's National Museum of Natural History in D.C. opening on March 30, which ties in to a TV special on the Smithsonian Channel called, what else, "Titanoboa: Monster Snake." The two-hour program airs April 1.

Remains of the titanoboa were first discovered in a Colombian coal mine in 2005. One of the researchers specializing in the Paleocene era, the time after the death of the dinosaurs, was Jonathan Bloch. A vertebrate paleontologist from University of Florida's Museum of Natural History, the scientist led multiple expeditions, along with Carlos Jaramillo of the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute. The team collected remains from the mine, which resulted in the find. Together with ancient-snake expert Jason Head of the University of Nebraska, they named the world's largest snake Titanoboa.

[DogByte6RER]

This artist's rendering of Titanoboa cerrejonensis demonstrates the great snake's size. It is anticipated the boa spent much of its life in or near water. (Credit: Copyright Jason Bourque, University of Florida)

[varmintman]

Nothing a 45/70 couldn’t handle...

[Kickass Conservative]

>”It is anticipated the boa spent much of its life in or near water”<

I would assume a 2500 Pound Snake spent its life anywhere it darn well pleased.

[null and void]

Soon to be the featured creature in a made for the SyFy Channel movie...

[SgtHooper]

I hate tabloid titles.

[shibumi]

“We’re going to need a bigger herpetarium” ping

[dfwgator]

No worries. Tim Tebow is coming!

[ETL]

[ETL]

[bigbob]

this thing triggered the development of the prehistoric 16 foot garden spade...

[Salamander]

I have an airtight alibi.....

[Salamander]

LOL

[reed13k]

certainly gives a little extra thought as to why Eve decided to follow the “serpents” suggestion now doesnt’ it.

[firebrand]

Me too. I thought this was going to be about redistricting.

[smokingfrog]

I’d want a .416 Rigby at the least.

[Doomonyou]

[To Hell With Poverty]

Ride the snake...ride the snake...to the lake...the ancient lake...

[Daffynition]

Now the alligators in the NYC sewers will have some fair competition.

[JRios1968]

[Salamander]

The rules have changed....:)