Key Points
From the Panandhro Lignite mine, researchers discovered 27 mostly well-preserved bones forming the snakes spinal column, or vertebra, with some connections still intact..
The snake is estimated to be roughly between 11 and 15 metre long, comparable in size only to the extinct Titanoboa, known to be the longest snake to have ever lived, the researchers said..
Indicus) after the mythical snake round the neck of the Hindu deity Shiva and in reference to its country of discovery, India, V. Indicus is part of the now extinct madtsoiidae family, known to have lived across a broad geography, including Africa, Europe and India, they added...
The authors said the snake represented a distinct lineage originating in India which then spread via southern Europe to Africa during the Eocene, about 56 to 34 million years ago..
Despite uncertainties in estimates, the researchers said the snake was comparable in size to Titanoboa, the fossils of which were first discovered in the 2000s from present day Colombia...
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20, Apr, 24From the Panandhro Lignite Mine, researchers discovered 27 "mostly well-preserved" bones forming the snake's spinal column, or vertebra, with some connections still intact. They said the vertebrae appeared to be from a fully-grown animal.