The world's largest snakes

Titanoboa tops the list of largest snakes with a weight of over a ton and a length of 13 m.

Reticulated python (9.9 m)

The reticulated python is the longest snake species alive today. Photo: Paul Starosta

Native to South Asia, the reticulated python ( Malayopython reticulatus ) is easily recognizable by its repeating diamond-shaped pattern and is the longest snake on Earth today. Records from 1912 mention a captured reticulated python measuring 10 meters (33 feet) long, the length of a school bus, although this figure is difficult to verify. According to the British Natural History Museum, reticulated pythons typically grow to be more than 6.25 meters (20 feet) long. The longest reticulated python in captivity is 7.7 meters (25 feet), according to Guinness World Records.

The size and erratic nature of reticulated pythons sometimes threatens human life. In 2018, authorities found the body of an Indonesian woman inside a reticulated python. Like many other pythons, females coil around their egg nests and rhythmically twitch their muscles to generate heat to warm their young, increasing their chances of survival.

Green Anaconda (10 m)

The green anaconda can weigh 250 kg. Photo: National Geographic

The green anaconda ( Eunectes murinus ) slithers silently through the swamps and streams of the Amazon, where it can live long enough to reach more than 30 feet in length. It is the heaviest snake on Earth today, with some individuals weighing up to 550 pounds, according to the Smithsonian National Zoo and Conservation Biology Institute.

These snakes use their massive bodies to squeeze prey like capybaras, caimans, and deer to death. There is no official record for the largest green anaconda, but in 2016, construction workers in Brazil encountered one estimated to be 33 feet (10 meters) long and weighing 800 pounds (399 kilograms). According to Patrick Campbell, curator at the Natural History Museum in London, the mass of muscle in the snake’s body wraps around its prey, causing a heart attack, stopping the heart and blood circulation. That immobilizes the prey for a long time, giving the green anaconda time to swallow it whole, often head first.

Gigantophis garstini (9.8 m)

G. garstini was a giant monster that lived 40 million years ago. Researchers estimate it was 7-10 meters long. This constrictor, discovered in Egypt in 1901, could coil around prey as large as the ancestors of early elephants and swallow it whole. Scientists discovered that Gigantophis is related to another extinct giant, Madtsoia, from India, proving that giant snakes were once widespread throughout Asia.

Palaeophis colossaeus (12 m)

P. colossaeus is an ancient ocean-dwelling sea snake that once covered parts of North Africa 100 million years ago. When its fossilized skeleton was discovered in what is now the Sahara Desert, researchers calculated from specimens collected later during field trips in 1999 and 2003 that the species could have grown to more than 40 feet (12 meters) long, according to a paper published in the journal Acta Palaeontologica Polonica. That makes P. colossaeus the longest sea snake ever found. Based on the skeleton, the researchers determined that its mouth was large enough to swallow small whales.

Titanoboa cerrejonensis (13 m)

Titanoboa could be as big as the T-Rex. Photo: MR1805

As big as a Tyrannosaurus Rex, Titanoboa once roamed the rainforests and rivers of South America. It was the largest snake to ever live on Earth. Dating back 60 million years, Titanoboa was a prehistoric ancestor of today's anaconda. Its 250 vertebrae made up a 45-foot-long skeleton. It grew by eating crocodiles and river fish. Titanoboa weighed an estimated 2,500 pounds, according to Indiana University. Fossils of the species were discovered in the early 2000s in the Cerrejón Formation of Colombia.

An Khang (According to Live Science )

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