BGuthrie Photos: DC -- Natl Museum of Natural History -- Exhibit: Titanoboa: Monster Snake

DC -- Natl Museum of Natural History -- Exhibit: Titanoboa: Monster Snake:

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Description of Pictures: Titanoboa: Monster Snake
March 30, 2012 – January 6, 2013
From deep underground in a Colombian coal mine, in a layer dating to 65 million years ago, scientists have uncovered remains of the largest snake in the world, Titanoboa cerrejonensis. Measuring 48 feet long and weighing in at 2,500 pounds, this massive predator could crush and devour a crocodile! Fossil plants and animals found at the site reveal the earliest known rain forest, teeming with life and dating to the Paleocene, the lost world that followed the demise of the dinosaurs. Featuring a full-scale model of Titanoboa and clips from a Smithsonian Channel documentary, the exhibition delves into the discovery, reconstruction, and implications of this enormous reptile.
The exhibition is a collaboration between the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute (STRI), Florida Museum of Natural History, and University of Nebraska-Lincoln; it is circulated by the Smithsonian Institution Traveling Exhibition Service (SITES).

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[1] SINHTI_120427_01.JPG	[2] SINHTI_120427_06.JPG	[3] SINHTI_120427_11.JPG
[4] SINHTI_120427_15.JPG	[5] SINHTI_120427_20.JPG	[6] SINHTI_120427_23.JPG
[7] SINHTI_120427_29.JPG	[8] SINHTI_120427_40.JPG	[9] SINHTI_120427_45.JPG
[10] SINHTI_120427_53.JPG	[11] SINHTI_120427_60.JPG

Specific picture descriptions: Photos above with "i" icons next to the bracketed sequence numbers (e.g. "[1] ") are described as follows:
1. SINHTI_120427_15.JPG: What Does a 48-foot Snake Eat? Anything that fits in its mouth! Titanoboa probably ate fish, turtles, and crocodiles, and a single large meal may have lasted the snake for a year. For a 48-foot constrictor, killing its prey wouldn't have taken long. Swallowing and digesting a half ton of blunt-nosed crocodile was another matter. Snakes' upper and lower jaws are attached by long tendons and muscles, allowing them to open their mouths very wide. They can also separate their lower jaws at their "chin" and spread them apart, dramatically increasing their gape. To digest prey, snakes like Titanoboa expand their digestive systems and generate the stomach acids necessary to dissolve bone and tissue. And what ate them? The species of crocodiles Titanoboa feasted on might have preyed on the giant snake's young. New research has revealed widely spaced tooth marks on the shells of giant turtles, hinting at an even larger crocodile -- as long as 40 feet (13 m) -- quite capable of preying on an adult Titanoboa.
2. SINHTI_120427_20.JPG: What Happened to Titanoboa? Good question. Titanoboa fossils were found in a single layer of rock at the Correjon mine. This layer, representing just 200 years of the Paleocene, yielded the remains of 28 individual snakes. Researchers have not yet determined precisely how long the species survived. A rapid global warming event may have driven Titanoboa to extinction. It is also possible that cooling temperatures millions of years after the Paleocene may have caused the snake's demise. As paleontologists continue to explore the South American fossil record, we may someday learn how long these gigantic snakes ruled their world and why they no longer do.
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