| Vasuki Temporal range: Middle Eocene, Lutetian | |
|---|---|
| |
| Life Restoration by Evan King | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Reptilia |
| Order: | Squamata |
| Family: | Madtsoiidae |
| Genus: | Vasuki |
| Type species | |
| Vasuki indicus Bajpai et al., 2024 | |
Vasuki is an extinct genus of madtsoiidae snake from Naredi Formation of India. Its largest estimates of length may indicate the genus is the longest known snake (even longer than Titanoboa), though more conservative estimates show it as much shorter. It is known from 27 vertebrae.[1] The type and the only known species is V. indicus.
Discovery and Naming[]
The Holotype (IITR/VPL/SB 3102-1-21) that contains 27 articulated vertebrae was discovered in 2005 in Naredi Formation of Kutch which is in Gujarat, India.[2] But when it was discovered the Paleontologist Sunil Bajpai thought that the bones were from a large extinct crocodilian.[3]
In the year 2024 when Bajpai and Datta did the more detailed research on the specimen only found out that it's actually a madtsoiidae snake and largest one discovered yet and they named it Vasuki indicus, the genus name is after the divine cobra of the same name which wraps itself around Shiva's neck, the species name is after the country of India.[1]
Description[]
Paleontologist used 2 equations to calculate the length of Vasuki like postzygapophyseal width and prezygapophyseal width[1] According to postzygapophyseal width the length of Vasuki would have been 10.9-12.2 metres.[4] But the results obtained from prezygapophyseal width equation shows that Vasuki was much longer around 14.5-15.2 metres.[5] However, the vertebral dimension of Vasuki were some what smaller than Titanoboa.[1][6]
Classification[]
V. indicus is currently classified as a type madtsoiidae snake, it is the sister taxon of the Madtsoia pisdurensis which lived in Lameta formation of Late Cretaceous India and Gigantophis from North Africa. Which shows that Vasuki might have evolved from Madtsoia pisdurensis and when India hits the large continent of Asia, Vasuki might have left India and traveled to North Africa from Middle East where it evolved into Gigantophis.[1]
Paleoenvironment[]
Unlike other giant snakes which have aquatic (sometimes semi-aquatic) lifestyle, Vasuki vertebral morphology shows that it had a terrestrial (though sometimes semi-aquatic) lifestyle when compared to other madtsoiidae snakes and modern day pythons. Vasuki fossils were deposited in a marsh like area. Modern day large snakes also live in the similar areas.[1]
Vasuki is known from Middle Eocene Naredi Formation, fossils of other animals such as a catfish, turtles, crocodiles, early whales and some mollusks have also been reported from the formation, these might have been the food source of Vasuki.[7] India was also an island during this time.
Gallery[]
.jpg "Size comparison of largest snakes (1).jpg (109 KB)")
.png "Vasuki (precloacal vertebrae).png (2.06 MB)")
Reference[]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 (18 April 2024) "Largest known madtsoiid snake from warm Eocene period of India suggests intercontinental Gondwana dispersal" (in en). Scientific Reports 14 (1): 8054. DOI:10.1038/s41598-024-58377-0. ISSN 2045-2322. PMID 38637509.
- ↑ Hunt, Katie (19 April 2024). "Colossal prehistoric snake discovered in India". https://edition.cnn.com/2024/04/18/india/giant-prehistoric-snake-india-scn/index.html.
- ↑ Williams, Riis (18 April 2024). "This Nearly 50-Foot Snake Was One of the Largest to Slither the Earth" (in en). https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/this-nearly-50-foot-snake-was-one-of-the-largest-to-slither-the-earth/.
- ↑ (2009) "Giant boid snake from the Paleocene neotropics reveals hotter past equatorial temperatures". Nature 457 (7230): 715–717. DOI:10.1038/nature07671. PMID 19194448.
- ↑ (2018) "Large palaeophiid and nigerophiid snakes from Paleogene Trans-Saharan Seaway deposits of Mali" (in en). Acta Palaeontologica Polonica 63. DOI:10.4202/app.00442.2017. ISSN 0567-7920.
- ↑ (2009) "Giant boid snake from the Paleocene neotropics reveals hotter past equatorial temperatures" 457 (7230): 715–717. DOI:10.1038/nature07671. PMID 19194448.
- ↑ Larson, Christina (18 April 2024). "This ancient snake in India might have been longer than a school bus and weighed a ton" (in en). https://apnews.com/article/ancient-giant-snake-india-8ca7b6b971b0a1b6c79ce50819d337c6.