The relationship of man to snakes has never been unambiguous. Many of us consider them to be useless and vile creatures, and some, on the contrary, are sure that the snake can be useful, since many drugs of the widest spectrum of action are produced from its poison. But no matter how we relate to these cold-blooded reptiles, we are still interested in learning some facts about them. For example, what is the longest snake in the world, and where did she live.
Species of snakes
Snakes belong to the suborder of reptiles, which are part of the order of scaly ones, and have been living on Earth for at least 67 million years. The study of this species is carried out by the special science of serpentology, which got its name from the Latin name of snakes - "Serpentes".
Currently, more than 3000 species of various reptiles of this class are known. They are combined into 23 families and six subfamilies. Speaking of snakes, it can be noted that only about a quarter of them are poisonous. Although at the same time almost all of them are predators and feed on both vertebrate and invertebrate animals.
Non-poisonous snakes usually swallow their prey alive, although some species pre-kill it by pressing it to the ground, clenching their jaws or locking them into rings. At the same time, poisonous reptiles of this species kill the prey before eating it, introducing the poison with special venomous teeth.
Not only the longest snake, but also its smaller relatives can swallow its prey entirely. The swallowing mechanism looks like this: the reptile gradually moves towards the swallowed food, alternately moving the left and right parts of the lower jaw. In this case, everything looks as if it is pulling itself on the prey.
Interesting facts about snakes
To date, the most interesting is the question of which snake is the longest. The facts about this are controversial and vary depending on the source.
For example, you can find information that in 2002, Indonesian peasants were caught, and in 2003 a mesh python was shown, which had a length of 14.85 meters and a weight of 447 kilograms. However, there is no reliable data about him, except for the photo, which the media consider falsified. The fact is, indeed, so controversial that even the Guinness Book of Records does not say a word about it.
As for the "Book of Records" itself, it indicates that the longest snake was caught in Africa and had a length of 11.43 meters. The snake belonged to the anaconda subspecies and lived in the tropics of the southern part of the African continent.
In addition to the anacondas, the mesh python is considered the largest reptile. The most famous specimen of reticulated python was shot in 1912 on the Indonesian island of Celebes. Its length was about ten meters.
Currently, the largest of all snakes, the representative of the Giant Anacondas is located in the "Zoological Society of New York." With a total length of approximately nine meters, the weight of this anaconda is close to 130 kilograms.
After the anacondas and reticulated python, the third place among the largest snakes is Tiger, or Indian python. The length of these creatures can in some cases reach 7-8 meters.
As for the boa, familiar to many, it occupies only the fourth step in the overall ranking of the largest snakes. Usually its size does not exceed five meters.
All of these reptiles belong to non-poisonous snakes. Poisonous representatives of this class are more modest in size. Although, given their danger, they may interest many.
The longest snake striking a victim with its poison is called the King Cobra. It grows throughout its life, that is, about thirty years, and can reach a length of more than five meters. Although usually its average size fluctuates between 3 and 4 meters.
As for the fossils of this species of reptiles, the finding in Egypt of a giant African python living about 55 million years ago is considered reliable. The length of this ancient creature was 11 meters 80 cm.
To all of the above, we can add for comparison the fact that the smallest snake in the world is called the Brahmin blind man. The largest individual of this species had a length of only 10.8 centimeters.