![]() ![]() Researchers determined that the snake species was a type of constrictor, which means that it killed its prey by wrapping around it and squeezing. Additionally, its existence on Earth may have extended into the prior era, known as the Paleocene. Continued studies of this species indicate that it may have existed for a longer period of time during the Eocene era than previously estimated. Recently, Gigantophis fossils have also been found in present-day Pakistan. Gigantophis slid its way across the area between present-day Egypt and Algeria, in the northern Sahara region of Africa approximately 40 million years ago. Fossil records show that this now-extinct species grew to between 30.5 and 35.1 feet in length on average. The Gigantophis Snakeīetween 19, paleontology records indicated that Gigantophis was the largest snake to have ever existed on Earth. Some of the largest snakes alive today have average lengths of between 17 and 30 feet, and even these impressive numbers do not represent the largest snake to have ever lived. Not all snakes have a small size, however. One of the principal reasons that the evolution of snakes continues to be an unanswered question is that the skeletons of snakes and their ancestors are generally small and easily broken, meaning the fossils available are incomplete. Many paleontologists agree that these animals evolved from land-roaming lizards, although some theories suggest that snakes evolved from a now-extinct ocean-dwelling reptile. ![]() Snakes have been slithering over the surface of the Earth for over 150 million years.
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