The vertebrae of Vasuki indicus found in Kutch.

Researchers at the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Roorkee have reported the discovery of fossils of one of the largest snakes that ever existed and likely lived 47 million years ago during a period called the Middle Eocene. The fossils were found in Kutch, Gujarat, and the reptile, named Vasuki Indicus, could have been anywhere between 10 metres and 15 metres long, or as big as a modern-day school bus.

It belonged to the now-extinct Madtsoiidae snake family but represents a unique lineage from India, the authors note.

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Professor Sunil Bajpai and post-doctoral researcher Debajit Datta at the IIT Roorkee, stumbled upon 27 pieces of a “partial, well preserved” vertebral column of the snake at the Panandhro Lignite Mine in Kutch.

The discovery, the authors report in the peer-reviewed journal, Nature Scientific Reports, could improve understanding of how the madtsoiid species evolved in different kinds of climate, as well as the factors that contributed to large body-sizes. One of the causative factors is held to be high temperatures in the tropical climate of that time.

The reptile existed at a time when the earth looked quite different from today, and Africa, India and South America were one, conjoined landmass.

Vasuki Indicus likely had a broad and cylindrical body, hinting at a robust and powerful build and was as big as Titanoboa, a massive snake that once roamed the earth and is reportedly the longest ever known, said a press statement from IIT Roorkee. Much like present-day pythons and anaconda, Vasuki Indicus killed its prey by suffocation.

Vasuki refers to the mythical snake often depicted around the neck of the Hindu god Shiva.

“This discovery is significant not only for understanding the ancient ecosystems of India but also for unravelling the evolutionary history of snakes on the Indian subcontinent. It underscores the importance of preserving our natural history and highlights the role of research in unveiling the mysteries of our past,” Dr. Bajpai, said in a statement.

New Delhi:

Fossils recovered from Kutch in Gujarat may have belonged to the spine of one of the largest snakes to ever have lived, according to new research from the Indian Institute of Technology Roorkee.

From 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.

Part of the now-extinct Madtsoiidae family, the snake is estimated to be between roughly 11 and 15 metres long. The Madtsoiidae snake family is known to have lived across a broad geography, including Africa, Europe and India.

The researchers 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. The first ancestors and close relatives of the modern mammal species are said to have appeared in the Eocene period.

The authors dated the fossils to the Middle Eocene period roughly 47 million years ago.

The researchers have named this newly discovered snake species ‘Vasuki Indicus’ (V. Indicus) after the mythical snake round the neck of the Hindu deity Shiva and in reference to its country of discovery, India. Their findings are published in the journal Scientific Reports.

The vertebrae, measuring between 38 and 62 millimeters in length, and between 62 and 111 millimeters in width, suggested V. Indicus to possibly have had a broad, cylindrical body, the researchers said.

They extrapolated the measurements of V. Indicus to be between 10.9 and 15.2 metres in length.

This is comparable in size to the extinct Titanoboa, the longest known snake to have ever lived, the researchers said, even as they highlighted the uncertainties around these estimates. The fossils of Titanoboa were first discovered in the 2000s in present-day Colombia.

They believe that V. Indicus’s large size may have made it a slow-moving ambush predator, similar to an anaconda.

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