Holy shite, that was a big-ass facking snake...

[Gawdzilla Sama]

They must have had reallly big asses. They took their ass-facking seriously back then.

Actually I'm interested in just how high they could rear their heads up before it put too much strain on their bones.

Good point.
The documentary also alluded to the notion that they might even have had difficulty breathing under their own weight while on land, I noted.

Okay, a boa seldom raises its head above 2 feet AGL during strikes. They like grabbing critters' legs because they can't kick them with that limb. The Titanoboa, if it had a similar philosophy/strategy, would want to be about 4-6 AGL minimum, I think, for the really big critters. However, as it would have trouble swallowing a baluchitherium I'd think 4 feet would be enough.

[JacksSmirkingRevenge]

...King cobras, on the other hand, can stand up to 5 feet tall and move at a goodly pace in that position too. The good news is the venom isn't as potent as some snakes...the bad news is they can deliver up to 7cc's of the stuff in one bite.

[Gawdzilla Sama]

...King cobras, on the other hand, can stand up to 5 feet tall and move at a goodly pace in that position too. The good news is the venom isn't as potent as some snakes...the bad news is they can deliver up to 7cc's of the stuff in one bite.

The cube/square law would come into play. The titanoboa would be supporting ten times the weight per square inch compared to the biggest King cobra on record, according to my slipshod and slapdash math.

[JacksSmirkingRevenge]

Um, yeah...Double the diameter of a cylinder and it's volume increases four-fold. Double length as well and it's eight-fold. - Think 'square tubes'.

[FBM]

If it spent most of its time in the water, as the documentary suggests, that would change the dynamics quite a bit. It could work like a croc or gator, lying submerged near the bank, launching out of the water when something big enough to eat comes down for a drink, then dragging the poor sap down into the water. That much body mass also means a shitload of muscle, so I imagine it could launch probably half its length up and out of the water to grab that snack. That could be over 20'...

[Gawdzilla Sama]

If it spent most of its time in the water, as the documentary suggests, that would change the dynamics quite a bit. It could work like a croc or gator, lying submerged near the bank, launching out of the water when something big enough to eat comes down for a drink, then dragging the poor sap down into the water. That much body mass also means a shitload of muscle, so I imagine it could launch probably half its length up and out of the water to grab that snack. That could be over 20'...

Or it could have done some fishin'.

[FBM]

Or both. A little of this, a little of that...sometimes you want fish, sometimes you want chicken...

[Gawdzilla Sama]

Or both. A little of this, a little of that...sometimes you want fish, sometimes you want chicken...

T. rex => Rhode Island Red.


Somehow that makes the universe suck just a little more.

[FBM]

Or both. A little of this, a little of that...sometimes you want fish, sometimes you want chicken...

T. rex => Rhode Island Red.


Somehow that makes the universe suck just a little more.

I had dinosaur for dinner last night. I don't regret what they've become. If they were still T. rex-sized, it'd be the other way 'round...

[Gawdzilla Sama]

Or both. A little of this, a little of that...sometimes you want fish, sometimes you want chicken...

T. rex => Rhode Island Red.


Somehow that makes the universe suck just a little more.

I had dinosaur for dinner last night. I don't regret what they've become. If they were still T. rex-sized, it'd be the other way 'round...

I'd introduce them to the LAAW.

[mistermack]

I still say that model is a ludicrous exaggeration of the size.
A big anaconda weighs about 400 pounds, and is about 20 feet long.
This snake is about forty feet long, so if it was the same thickness as an anaconda it would weigh about 800 lbs.
As it's reckoned to have weight up to a ton, that would make it's cross section about three times the area, which makes it about seventy five % thicker and twice the length of a modern anaconda.

Very impressive, but nothing like that model. It's head would have been about the same size as a pigs.

[Ronja]

mistermack, this Reuters report states that the researchers had also found fossilized ribs http://uk.reuters.com/article/2009/02/0 ... K320090204 and this pretty extensive blog post shows a picture of such a rib http://www.science20.com/news_releases/ ... gest_snake

Now how can the estimates of how thick the animal was be seriously off, if they had both vertebrae and ribs (and finally even scull bones - see the Smithsonian's documentary)?

[mistermack]

mistermack, this Reuters report states that the researchers had also found fossilized ribs http://uk.reuters.com/article/2009/02/0 ... K320090204 and this pretty extensive blog post shows a picture of such a rib http://www.science20.com/news_releases/ ... gest_snake

Now how can the estimates of how thick the animal was be seriously off, if they had both vertebrae and ribs (and finally even scull bones - see the Smithsonian's documentary)?

I'm sure the scientists' estimates wouldn't be seriously off. But that hasn't stopped the people who made the model from producing a ludicrous exaggeration. It just irritates me that someone can do that. It takes it into the realms of Disney, rather than science.

The artist's impression is a lot nearer what a real snake would look like, but even that is much thicker in proportion to it's length than a real boa, or anaconda.

For comparison, an average cow weighs half a ton. In my estimation, there is half a ton of snake, just in the bit lifted off the floor. The whole thing would be AT LEAST five tons on that scale.

[Gawdzilla Sama]

They needed to be big.

[Robert_S]

They needed to be big.

That crock is gonna be so pissed off when he wakes up!