The longest, largest snakes – Top 10
The longest snake in the world
Our imagination, especially the imagination of filmmakers, often has a tendency to magnify living animals. This ailment is troubling not only fishermen, but also almost everyone who met face to face with a wild animal. Thus we often encounter the “eyewitness” relationships of people seeing a huge 15-20 meter snakes, often weighing more than 350 kg. Whether such creatures exist in reality? In today’s article, we answer this question.
The longest snakes – Top 10
Inland taipan – 250 cm (8.2 ft)
Inland taipan (Oxyuranus microlepidotus)
The most venomous snake in the world begins our list of the Top 10 of the world’s longest snakes. This snake most often measured about 180 cm (5.91 ft), although the largest individuals can reach 250 cm (8.2 ft) in length.
Taipan exists in Australia, in the least hospitable areas. Although its venom can kill 289 humans, this snake is… shy and rather running away, hiding among the rocks, than tends to confrontation.
Diamondback rattlesnake – 260 cm (8.53 ft)
Diamondback rattlesnake (Crotalus adamanteus)
It is the heaviest (but not longest) venomous snake in the Americas and the largest rattlesnake. The snake is an excellent swimmer and is lethal to humans. Its venom is highly toxic and produced in large quantities.
Although the record individuals can reach 2.6 m (8.53 ft), these snakes usually measure from 110 (3.61 ft)to 170 cm (5.58 ft) and weighing approx. 2.3 kg (5 lbs). The biggest diamond rattlesnakes may exceed the weight of 5 kg (11 lbs) – max. 6.7 kg (14.77 lbs).
King brown snake – 300 cm (9.84 ft)
King brown snake, mulga (Pseudechis australis)
Mulga is one of the longest venomous snakes in the world and is the second longest snake in Australia (next to inland taipan and coastal taipan). King brown snakes reach from 2.5 (8.2 ft) to 3 m (9.84 ft) in length and weigh from 3 (6.6 lbs) to 6 kg (13.2 lbs).
Coastal taipan – 330 cm (10.83 ft)
Coastal, common taipan (Oxyuranus scutellatus)
No. 3 on the list of the most venomous snakes in the world. For the attentive reader, such a high position and name taipan must indicate clearly the area of distribution – Australia. Coastal taipan is large snakes. It is the largest venomous snake in Australia. Common taipan measures generally from 150 to 200 cm (4.9 – 6.6 ft), although the record individuals can reach 330 cm (confirmed 290 cm – 9.5 ft).
Indigo snake – over 300 cm (9.84 ft)
Indigo snake (Drymarchon)
This snake belongs to the family Colubridae. It is not poisonous. It occurs in North America and South America. The length of these snakes can exceed 3 meters (9.8 ft), but usually, it is below this size. A typical weight is 3.2-4.5 kg (7-9.9 lbs), record individuals may exceed 5 kg (11 lbs).
Characteristic for these snakes is black or dark blue beautiful coloration. Some individuals have on the sides of the head orange-red color.
Olive python – over 400 cm (13.12 ft)
Olive python (Liasis olivaceus)
Liasis olivaceus is commonly known as an olive python because of its coloration. The snake is one of the largest snakes in Australia. Currently, two subspecies are classified of olive python:
- L. o. barroni – larger subspecies (300 cm – above 400 cm in length) / 9.8 – to over 13 ft
- L. o. olivaceus – smaller subspecies (200 – 300 cm in length) / 6.5 – 9.8 ft
The snake is not poisonous – a typical constrictor. Sometimes it is confused with poisonous mulga (Pseudechis australis) and therefore killed. The adults can exceed 400 cm (13.1 ft) in length. Its range of occurrence is the northern parts of Australia. Olive python eats small mammals, birds, and reptiles.
Black mamba – 430 cm (14.11 ft)
Black mamba (Dendroaspis polylepis)
Black mamba is the largest venomous snake in Africa. Typically reaches a length of from 2.2 to 2.7 meters (7.2 – 8.9 ft). However, there are individuals that achieve nearly 4 meters (13.1 ft) in length. The longest black mamba, the length of which was confirmed was 430 cm (14.11 ft).
The black mamba is not only one of the longest snakes in the world, but also the fastest snake in the world and the most aggressive, which attacks often without any reason.
The venom of the black mamba is highly toxic – potentially causing a collapse in humans within 45 minutes. The Black mamba is the second longest venomous snake in the world, exceeded in length only by the king cobra.
Boa constrictor – 430 cm (14.11 ft)
The most famous boa, beautifully colored and although constrictor is not particularly dangerous to humans. Boa is often grown in homes, usually reaches a length of 3-4 meters (9.8-13.1 ft), females are longer than males.
Boa constrictors in captivity rarely exceed 250 cm (8.2 ft) – it is the result of crosses of related individuals. In the wild, boa exists in South and Central America.
Indian rock python – 460 cm (15.1 ft)
Indian rock python (Python molurus)
The rock python is a large nonvenomous snake found in many tropic and subtropic areas of Southern and Southeast Asia.
There are two subspecies of Python molurus:
- Burmese python (Python bivittatus) – slightly longer
- Indian rock python Python molurus molurus – slightly shorter
Both snakes appear in Asia (Pakistan, India, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Burma, China, Laos, Malaysia, Indonesia, Java, Borneo).
Indian rock python is generally lighter colored than the Burmese python; it reaches usually 300 cm (9.8 ft) – max 460 cm (15.1 ft).
King cobra – 5.7 m (18.7 ft)
King cobra (Ophiophagus hannah)
The king cobra is the longest venomous snake in the world; it is found in Asia. The king cobra is considered to be a dangerous snake and has a fearsome reputation in its range, although it typically avoids confrontation with humans if possible.
The king cobra reaches a length of 570 cm (18.7 ft) and a weight of up to 9 kg (19.8 lbs). In the case of the king cobra, the male is larger than the female, which is extremely rare in snakes. Cobras, like most snakes, grow throughout their lives. The largest specimens are old – about 30 years old.
What’s interesting – the cobras shortly after birth are able to attack and defend. Cobras after birth have already had the venom and fangs.
The king Cobra is deadly to man – man got bitten without giving serum may die within 15 minutes. King Cobra is also, unfortunately, extremely aggressive, the most among all the cobras. Cobras are immune to their own venom, so bitten by a representative of their own species does not do any harm to them.
Burmese python – 5.74 m (18.7 ft)
Burmese python (Python bivittatus)
The Burmese python occurs in South-East Asia. It is one of two subspecies of Python molurus. It usually reaches up to 3-4 m (9.8-13.1 ft) in length, but the record individuals exceed 5 m (16.4 ft) in length. It is quite popular among snake breeders. Interestingly, there is also the albino variety. This snake is a constrictor.
This snake is an excellent swimmer and needs a permanent source of water. Since the end of the 20th century, these snakes become an established breeding population in Florida – python invasion has been particularly extensive in South Florida.
African rock python – 7 m (23 ft)
African rock python (Python sebae)
This python occurs in Africa. It is one of the largest snakes in the world. It is only shorter than the reticulated python. Adult snakes most often reach about 4.8 meters in length. Many rumors say that these snakes exceed 6 meters, but these cases have not been confirmed.
One African rock python, reportedly 7 m (23 ft) in length, was killed in 1958. It was claimed to have had a 1.5 m (4.9 ft) juvenile Nile crocodile in its stomach… It is difficult to say today if these reports were true.
Green anaconda – 7 m (23 ft)
Green anaconda (Eunectes murinus)
Anaconda is the heaviest snake in the world. It occurs in South America and belongs to the family of constrictors. Females are larger than males and can reach up to 7 meters (23 ft) in length and 250 kg (551 lbs) in weight.
It is rare, however, since they typically measure between 4 to 4.5 m / 13-14.8 ft (males 2,5 – 3 m / 8.2-9.8 ft), and their weight does not exceed 100 kg / 220 lbs (typically 60-70 kg / 132-154 lbs). It is interesting that the anaconda hibernate.
Female after mating can sometimes eat male like a snack… Well, the anaconda is the black widow among snakes.
Amethystine python – 8.5 m (27.9 ft)
Amethystine python (Morelia amethistina)
Amethystine, scrub python occurs in Indonesia, Papua New Guinea, and Australia. It is popular among lovers of reptiles. It is the largest snake native to Australia, Papua New Guinea, West Papua and Indonesia.
There are four subspecies of Morelia amethystina that are widely recognized. Large snakes reach over 5 meters (16.4 ft) in length, but there are reports of snakes exceeding 8.5 meters (28 ft). A typical snake of this species measures from 2 to 4 meters (6.56 – 13.12 ft). Reports of snakes, whose length exceeds 6 meters are unconfirmed, but it is worth to mention the snakes 7.2 and 6.88 m – however, these data have not been verified.
Females typically weigh around 15 kg (33 lb). Some exceptional specimens have been confirmed to weigh over 30 kg (66.1 lb) and unconfirmed outsized specimens have been reported to scale 90 kg (198 lb), although no specimen of this enormous size has been authenticated.
Males are much smaller, averaging at 5.1 kg (11 lb) in mass at maturity, and occasionally weighing upwards of 11 kg (24.25 lb).
The longest snake in the world:
Reticulated python – 10 m (32.81 ft)
Reticulated python (Python reticulatus)
The longest snake of the modern world, can reach more than 9 meters (29.5 ft) in length and weight exceeding 100 kg (220 lb). Currently, the longest snake in the world is Medusa – at the age of nine years it was 767 cm long and weighed nearly 160 kg (353 lb).
Because these snakes can live 21 years and grow throughout their lives and Medusa has plenty of food, the owner of this snake is hoping Medusa exceed 10 meters in length and he would be the owner of “the longest snake ever” :). But remember that on average, these snakes do not exceed 6 meters (20 ft) in length.
The longest snake ever lived:
Titanoboa – 15 m (49 ft)
Titanoboa (Titanoboa cerrejonensis)
While the last dinosaurs slowly faded away, 60 million years ago a new giant, able to consume a crocodile, appeared on the surface of the Earth. In the incredibly hot and humid jungle, growing in the area of present-day Colombia, the largest snake ever discovered – titanoboa – was crawling on the forest floor.
- Length: 12 -15 meters (39ft – 49ft)
- Diameter: 1m (3ft 3.4in) at the widest section (larger after swallowing prey)
- Weight: 1000 – 1140 kg (2204 – 2513lb)
- Distribution: 60 – 58 million years ago; present-day Colombia
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