Biologist and TV wildlife presenter Dutch Professor Freek Vonk has found something terrifying: a snake with a head as big as a human’s. The world’s largest snake was found in the Amazon Rainforest – and at 26ft long and weighing 440lbs, it’s an absolute whopper. The Northern Green Anaconda lives in the Amazon and is as thick as a car tyre.
Until now, only one species of Green Anaconda – also called the Giant Anaconda – has been recognised in the Amazon.
However, the Northern Green Anaconda has been confirmed as a distinct species in a new study, published in Diversity this month.
‘Together with 14 other scientists from nine countries, we discovered that the largest snake species in the world, the green anaconda,’ Professor Vonk said.
‘As we all know it from movies and stories about giant snakes – are actually two different species.
‘The green anacondas found in the north of their range in South America – including Venezuela, Suriname, and French Guiana – appear to belong to a completely different species.
‘Although they look almost identical at first glance, the genetic difference between the two is 5.5% and that is huge.
‘To put this in perspective, humans and chimpanzees are only genetically different from each other by about 2%.’ Daily Mail