The Titanoboa would have ruled the land just 6 million years after the time of the Tyrannosaurus rex.Ĭarlos Jaramillo, a staff scientist at the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, co-organized the team that made the gigantic discovery. The Titanoboa was also the biggest known predator to roam the planet between the end of the dinosaurs, 65 million years ago, and the time of the Megalodon-a giant shark species that grew up to 58 feet long and lived around 20 million years ago.
MR1805/Gettyįor years before the discovery, scientists had debated about how big snakes grew-the general consensus was that it was no larger than 40 feet. It was the biggest snake that ever lived. A file image of a 3D illustration of the Titanoboa.
