Scientists discover world's largest snake: 8-meter green anaconda weighing 200 kg
What is known about the new species of snake (Collage: RBC-Ukraine)
The world's largest snake was discovered in Brazil. It measures 8 meters in length, weighs nearly 200 kilograms, and has a head the size of a human's. This green anaconda was found by Dutch television host of the wildlife program, Professor Freeck Vonk, according to The Sun.
What is known about the giant snake
The huge snake is much larger than the previous largest known species - the reticulated python, which averages about 6 meters in length. Up to this point, only one species of green anaconda, also known as the giant anaconda, was known in the Amazon.
The new species has been named Eunectes akayima - the Northern green anaconda. Data about it was published in a study in the scientific journal Diversity on February 16.
"Although they look almost identical at first glance, the genetic difference between the two is 5.5% and that is huge. To put this in perspective, humans and chimpanzees are only genetically different from each other by about 2%," said Professor Vonk.
The new species of snake reaches 8 meters in length (photo: screenshot from video)
"The Amazon region is under severe pressure from climate change and continued deforestation. Over a fifth of the Amazon has already disappeared, which is more than 30 times the area of the Netherlands. The survival of these iconic giant snakes is inextricably linked to protecting their natural habitat," added the scientist.
A biologist from the University of Queensland and co-author of the study, Bryan Fry, stated that the Northern green anaconda has a much smaller range than the southern one, making it much more vulnerable.
Scientists first suspected the existence of another species of green anaconda over 15 years ago. But only now have they been able to find evidence.
Earlier, we wrote about Ukrainian polar explorers showing the largest animals on the planet.
