ExtinctZoo - The Prehistoric Snakes That Would’ve Given Titanoboa Ophidiophobia

Episode Date: August 3, 2024

Titanoboa ain't top dog anymore

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the powerful vocals of Demi Lovato on May 17th, and the signature Southern Country Rock of Eric Church on July 19th. Tickets on sale now at Yamavat Theater.com, only at Yamava Resort and Casino, celebrating its 40th anniversary. You in? Must be 21 to enter. If you close your eyes, and imagine the most terrifying snake you know of or heard of, there is a chance that you'll picture the titana boa. And it's really not that hard to see why, considering that this prehistoric snake was a supersized boa

that many think of as being the largest snake the world has ever seen. And there's certainly no arguing that running into the slithering giant would end in a bad day for most. But in some ways, the titanamoa may not have been the scariest prehistoric snake out there. As people often overlooked the titano boa, likely wasn't some ravenous slayer that gobbled. mammals and crocodilians up on the daily, but rather it was an apex predator that specialized in eating fish. This hypothesis was first proposed after skull bones were located, which showed multiple adaptations for a paciferous lifestyle, including an extremely high number of teeth that were not as durable as those seen in other boids, and a palette that resembled that scene in

living say on phidians, who prey upon fish. This rather surprising find was also further supported by its habitat of Paleocene Columbia, which at the time of its existence was tropical and covered by extensive rivers that the Titaniboa probably spent the majority of its life in. And so now, lungfish and osteo-glossomorphs are thought to have made up the bulk of its diet. So, it looks like Titanaboa just wasn't as scary as we once thought, unless you're a fish, that is. But, it turns out that there is actually a family of prehistoric snakes, who could be the perfect candidates to take the Titanaboa's place as being in the earth, earth's most terrifying serpent, with members not only possessing more voracious and exotic diets,

but also having a much more grisly way of dispatching prey. On top of this, recent studies suggest that this relatively obscure group of snakes grew to be larger than the Titaniboah itself. These were the Matsuidae. As of today, 17 kinds of these snakes are known to science, and their origins go back further than even the ancestors of the Titanaboa, with the first Matsoid, having evolved some time during the Cretaceous, specifically about 98 million years ago. Strangely, very little is known about this first member, due to its discovery consisting of only one singular bone. In fact, to date, this member remains unidentified with no official name. And one of the only pieces of information we have on it was that it hailed from Sudan,

suggesting that this family first appeared in Africa. What's more is that whatever this snake was, it wasted no time mucking about. And before the end of the Cretaceous, the Matsuoidae had already established a fairly large range, with multiple species being present throughout Europe, Asia, and Australia. These members were diverse not only in range, but in size too, as some, like the Alamatofus, were small, only measuring 2.6 feet or 0.8 meters, while others, like the Sonaja, were larger, occasionally reaching over 11 feet or 3.5 meters, akin to the size of a large king brown snake. And that is a respectable size, no doubt.

But these early Matssoids were not yet the top dogs in their environments, as they still lived in the shadows of dinosaurs and in some cases giant terrorsors. It's thought that to survive, these snakes took on opportunistic diets, feasting on anything that they could come by, which in some cases included dinosaurs themselves, as demonstrated by a highly unique sonaget specimen, which showed the snake consuming what appeared to be a newly hatched titanosaur. Along with the occasional dinosaur, small reptiles, mammals, birds, and fish are all thought

to have been fair game for these serpents. And although they hadn't reached their full potential during this time, they were still already utilizing the first characteristic that arguably made them more brutal than the Titanaboa, their jaws. Like the Titanaboa and other boas, these Matoids were constrictors, who used powerful muscles to strangulate prey, and this similarity resulted in them originally being classified as a sub-family of Boas. However, where they differed in what ultimately set them apart was their primitive schools, which were not as flexible or as wide as those seen in Boas, which led paleontologists

to suggest that these guys could not swallow prey whole. Now, your first thought may be that this is a good thing, as if they couldn't swallow something, then it probably meant that it was off the menu, right? Well, not really, because they could still capture prey that was plenty big, thanks to their powerful, constricting muscles. But then, in order to devour the victim, which which was too big to be swallowed whole, they would simply use their teeth and jaws to shred them into bite-sized pieces, possibly twisting and turning in a fashion similar to what has seen in eels, resulting in chunks of flesh being literally sheared off. Suffice to say, you wouldn't want to go out this way.

And unfortunately for many, this became a terrible fate harder and harder to avoid as the Cretaceous prolonged, since the Matoids eventually took on a trend of becoming bigger and bigger with each new genus, which during the Mesozoic culminated. with the Matsoya, who the family is named after. This Titanic serpent inhabited both India and Madagascar during the final days of the Cretaceous period and was already reaching sizes that rivaled that of the largest snakes of today. In India, specimens seemed to have grown to be around 5 meters or 16 feet,

making them about the same size of the longest known boa constrictors. However, the Matsoya on the island of Madagascar could get even bigger, sometimes growing to be 8 meters or 26 feet, which would put them on the same playing field as some of the largest known reticulated pythens, Earth's current largest known snake. At this size, the Matsoya was starting to show just how problematic these Matsuids could be. And within its habitat of Cretaceous Madagascar, it's thought that practically every dinosaur and animal around would have been on the menu for adults, at least when they were juveniles.

What's more is that the Matsoya had another trick that made it a bigger menace than the dinosaurs it co-existed with, and that was its durability, because the Matsoya is one of the very few animals we know of that actually survived the KT extinction event. While we know that certain groups persisted, it's extremely rare to find a single genus that can be traced to Mesozoic and post-Mesazoic times. And this is all more crazy when considering that a large adult would have weighed about 167 pounds or 75 kilos, which is over three times the weight typically seen in KT extinction survivors. The reason it was able to survive has been attributed to its low-down profile, its ability

to take shelter in more hard-to-reach areas, and its extremely slow metabolism, which let it go without food for possibly up to one year. And with the world void of non-avian dinosaurs, there was nothing left to stop the Matsoya from taking this family of snakes to the next level. And by the time that Eocene had rolled in 10 million years after the Cretaceous had ended, this snake had managed to expand as far west as South America, and the same. It had absolutely ballooned in size, with Argentinian specimens being measured at 10 meters or 33 feet, making them the longest known predators around at the time.

With this new size boost, many paleontologists believed that Matsoya were apex predators who feasted on a wide range of crocodilomorphs and mammals, including Xanarthens, horses, and primates. But despite being one of the largest known snakes known as science, Matsoa would still not be the largest member to emerge from this family. Although, it may have been the direct ancestor to what was, because as mentioned, this snake could be found within India during the Lake Cretaceous, and it's thought that the Indian Matsoya survived just like its Madagascar counterpart, leading to it establishing a cozy

domain in India, which at the time was an island completely isolated from the rest of the world, making it more or less protected from potential new competitors. This coupled with the fact that the earth was much hotter after the Mesozoic than it is today, led to snakes becoming bigger and bigger, which reached a maximum point. on this island 47 million years ago during the Middle Eocene, when the Matsuya, or some descendant, presumably evolved into what is possibly the largest snake of all time, Vesukei Indicus.

This snake has only been talked about within the last year, despite its fossils having been found in 2005, when 27 pre-Cloacal vertebrae were located within the state of Gujarat in Western India. Its long way to be described was a result of paleontologists first thinking that it was really a large crocodilian, And it wasn't until the fossils were re-reviewed that they realized that it was actually a snake of all things. And naturally, if you mix up a snake for a crock, then the snake in question how to have been quite large in life.

And the Vesuki definitely was, with the latest estimate suggesting a length of anywhere from 12.2 meters or 40 feet to 15.2 meters or 50 feet. At the higher numbers, Vesuki dethrones Titaniboa from its 15-year reign as the world's longest snake known to science. It was also ridiculously hefty for a snake, weighing around one ton, which is similar to the weight of an adult giraffe. Surely seeing this creature would have invoked some pretty intense primal fears. And sadly, for all those with odiofobia, encountering this snake would have been far easier than meeting the Titanaboa. As unlike the former, Vesuke is thought to have been a mostly terrestrial creature that prowled

around murky, thick swamps, where it could have easily have set up ambushes on unsuspecting prey that were then dispatched by its powerful constricting muscles and subsequently torn apart by its razor-sharp teeth. Analysis on the area it lived indicates a diet that was varied and rather impressive, with prey possibly including different kinds of crocodilians, turtles, and even an undetermined kind of primitive whale. What's more is that within its environment, the Vesukee was the biggest predator around both in length and weight, making it the undisputed apex predator, and it retained this status for millions of years. Although, fortunately for all, the Vasuki did not stick around forever, and it seemingly went extinct by the time the Eocene had ended.

Perhaps the result of the Earth starting to cool down, resulting in its large size no longer being supported due to its endothermic or cold-blooded nature. However, the end of the Vasuki was not the end of the Matssoidae as a whole, and they continue to be quite successful in different areas of the globe. But there was one place in particular that became a hotspot for Matssoids. And that was Australia. This may not be surprising, given the continent's climate, and that it's pretty much the land of Nope, but during the Sinozoic, many Matoids popped up here, including long after the demise of the Vesuki.

In fact, Australia was so perfect for these snakes that two prominent and giant members actually evolved at pretty much the same time, with the slightly older of the two being the U.R. Lunger. This genus first appeared during the final days of the oligasy in epoch 23 million years ago, and at the very least inhabited the Queensland area of Australia. While it was nowhere near as big as the Vesuki,

this snake was still pretty giant, measuring around 6 meters or 20 feet and retained the nasty habit of tearing prey apart with its inflexible jaws. Additionally, it appears to have been a fully terrestrial snake who feasted on a mix of marsupials and reptiles, which could also have included another one of its kind, the Wunambi, the second younger Matoid that lived alongside it. The Winnabi was the smaller of the two and therefore more vulnerable, with adults only

reaching a maximum of 6 meters or 20 feet, although, as you can tell, still pretty large when it comes to snakes in general. And its smaller size actually turned out to be the Winnombie's trump card, as it likely played an important role in its extended survival. As while the climate became colder and drier, the year longer slowly disappeared from Australia, with its habitat no longer able to support its size, and eventually it vanished, 11.6 million years ago. And with its extinction, the Winnabi became the last man, or snake, standing, as well as the last

Matsuade worldwide, with climate having taken a toll all over the globe. But Winnabi wouldn't go anywhere anytime soon, as it managed to thrive for over 10 million years. Fossils of this snake reveal that during this time it showed a preference for cool and arid regions, where it would dwell near waterholes waiting for an unfortunate and unsuspecting prey to take a drink. This nightmare was no doubt a formidable predator, but carrying the torch of the Matssoids didn't come without challenges, considering that it coexisted with a bunch of crazy

Australian megafauna, which included giant birds, car-sized wombats, marsupial lions, and what were essentially supersized Komodo dragons. Yet, despite such adversity, the Wannambi managed to prevail and remained one of Australia's top predators until the late Pleistocene, giving it an existence that lasted for nearly 23 million years, a true testament to the efficiency of the Matsui Day. Yet, there is always a bigger fish, so to speak. And roughly 50,000 years ago, the Winnabi met a predator unlike anything it had ever encountered before. Us. It is believed that the Aboriginals who set up camp in Australia made fairly quick work at the Wannabe, and by 12,000 years ago, they were gone,

bringing an end to this ancient family of snakes. Thanks for watching, and until next time, On the next scene. Ambition comes in all shapes and sizes. At First Citizens Bank, we roll with your goals because we're built for what you're building. Fit for your ambition for Citizens Bank. USAA knows dynamic duos can save the day, like superheroes and sidekicks or auto and home insurance. With USAA, you can bundle your auto and home and save up to 10%. Tap the banner to learn more and get a quote at usa.com slash bundle.

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