Titanoboa, the largest snake ever discovered, lived 60 million years ago in the swampy jungles of South America. It was a colossal snake that stretched a remarkable 13 meters long and weighed upwards of 1,000 kilograms.

Titanoboa had anatomical characteristics of a boa constrictor, but it behaved more like an anaconda, spending most of its time immersed in shallow water. It may have masked its giant body in layers of mud and murky water, slowly ambushing its prey, clamping down its hooked teeth, and choking the life from their bodies. Titanoboa could capture and kill the largest predators in its ecosystem, including crocodylomorphs and even other snakes.

During the Paleocene Epoch, global temperatures climbed due to abundant CO2 in the atmosphere, and under these conditions, the tropics of South America became a smoldering greenhouse. Cold-blooded animals like snakes flourished in the superheated jungles of the mid to late Paleocene, but none more than Titanoboa.

Titanoboa disappeared from the lowland tropics of northern Colombia sometime during the late Paleocene. The exact cause of its extinction remains unclear, though it may have been affected by sudden changes in the Earth’s climate.