Scientists have discovered a new species of snake in the Amazon forests: they are probably the largest in the world – News

Scientists from the state of Queensland (Australia), working in the Amazon rainforest, have found a new giant species of snake. They are believed to be the largest in the world.

A team of scientists went to the Ecuadorian Amazon in search of the previously undocumented northern green anaconda (Eunectes akaima). Previously, they received an invitation to observe anacondas from the Waorani people, writes CNN.

Together, they went on a ten-day expedition in the Bameno region of the Baihuaeri Waorani territory, and then went downriver to “find several anacondas lurking in the shallows, waiting for prey,” the researchers said.

“The size of these magnificent creatures was incredible – one female anaconda we encountered was 6.3 meters long,” – said Professor Brian Fry, a biologist from the University of Queensland, who led the research.

However, there are also longer snakes. So, local researchers heard that they saw 7.5-meter-long anacondas in the forests. They weighed half a ton each.

According to the British Natural History Museum, green anacondas are the heaviest snakes in the world. They note that the “record holder” among them was an individual weighing 227 kilograms, and its length and width were almost 8.5 meters and 1.11 meters, respectively.

Specialists who studied these creatures found that a new species of northern green anaconda separated from the southern one almost ten million years ago. Genetically, they differ by 5.5%.

“That’s a significant difference. By comparison, humans differ from chimpanzees by only about 2%,” said Fry.

A team of researchers studied the genes of the green anaconda to assess its potential as an indicator of ecosystem health. The study found that anacondas can be sensitive to environmental changes, making them a valuable source of information for monitoring the state of Amazon ecosystems.

“Deforestation in the Amazon basin has led to the loss of 20-31% of biotopes, which could affect 40% of forests by 2050,” – noted the head of the study.

Brian Fry added that habitat degradation, forest fires, drought and climate change threaten rare animal species, including anacondas that live in the Amazon forests.

It will be recalled that the researchers predicted the future of the Amazon forests.