Scientists have Amazon Jungle They have discovered a species of giant anaconda that they say can grow up to 7.5 meters long and weigh around 500 kilograms. Due to these features, it is the largest and heaviest in the world snake has become
Until now, four species of anaconda were known, the largest of which – the green anaconda – lived in tropical parts of South America such as the Amazon, Orinoco, and Esquibo rivers, including some small bodies of water.
Found in the rivers and wetlands of South America, these anacondas are known for their lightning speed and for wrapping around their prey and killing them.
A new study spanning decades has now revealed that green anacondas are genetically two distinct species.
Researchers working with indigenous and ‘Vavrani’ people captured and studied several specimens of the newly named northern green anaconda (Unicats aquima) in the Bamino region of the Behuarí Vavrani region of the Ecuadorian Amazon.
This variety was found during the filming of Geographic’s Disney Plus series ‘Pole to Pole with Will Smith’.
Scientists have recorded several new species of anaconda ‘hiding in deep water, waiting for prey’ as they roam the Amazon rivers.
“The size of the creature was incredible and the female anaconda we encountered was an astonishing 6.3 meters long,” study co-author Brian Fry of the University of Queensland said in a statement.
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‘The Wawarani people have legendary stories of other anacondas in the area, over 7.5 meters long and weighing around 500 kilograms,’ Dr Fry said.
The new species, about which information was published in the scientific journal ‘Diversity’, was 5.5% genetically different from the southern green anaconda found about 100 million years ago.
In this context, humans are only two percent different from chimpanzees.
According to the researchers, this discovery is important for the conservation of anacondas, which are great predators and important for maintaining balance in their ecosystem.
Scientists say a healthy anaconda population means their ecosystem has abundant food resources and clean water, while a decline in snake numbers could be a sign of an environmental crisis.
“Therefore, it is important to know the species of anacondas and monitor their numbers,” the researchers wrote in The Conversation:
Industrial-scale agriculture, forest fires, drought, climate change, as well as pollution from oil extraction activities are increasingly threatening anacondas and their habitats.
Dr Fry said, ‘Research is needed on how petrochemicals from oil spills are affecting the reproductive biology of these rare snakes.’
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2024-08-05 20:08:00
