goinggreek.info
The Agora => Greek News => Greek History & Culture => Topic started by: Maik on Friday, 07 November, 2014 @ 10:37:52
-
Biggest Venomous Snake Ever Revealed in New Fossils
Walking the grasslands of what is now Greece 4 million years ago was a dangerous proposition: Lurking among the vegetation was the largest venomous snake ever known to man.
Laophis crotaloides measured between 10 and 13 feet (3 and 4 meters) long and weighed a whopping 57 lbs. (26 kilograms).
The tale of the enormous viper begins in 1857, when paleontologist Sir Richard Owen — the person who coined the word "dinosaur" — described 13 fossilized snake vertebrae found near Thessaloniki, Greece. Owen named the specimen Laophis crotaloides and reported it as the largest viper evr in the Quarterly Journal of The Geological Society (Vipers are one family of venomous snake, known for their hollow, retractable fangs.)
But the original 13 vertebrae have been lost, and no one had ever found any additional fossils to back up Owen's claim, said study researcher Georgios Georgalis, a graduate student at Aristotle University of Thessaloniki. That is, until recently.
Now, a single vertebra, barely an inch long, found near Thessaloniki, confirms the existence of Owen's enormous viper.
The region where Laophis was discovered was also home to enormous tortoises, some of which grew as big as cars.
http://www.livescience.com/48629-biggest-venomous-snake-fossils-found.html
-
Tortoises... as big as... cars?! :blink:
Tony
-
Dinkey cars..?!!