00:00Beneath the thick, shadowy canopy of a prehistoric rainforest, a silent hunter slides into the
00:07murky river waters.
00:09This is Titanoboa.
00:12Its size is horrifying, stretching over 40 feet long, which is about the length of a
00:17school bus, and weighing as much as a small car.
00:21It rains as the largest snake ever known.
00:26This is around 60 million years ago.
00:28It's only been 6 million years since the dinosaurs were wiped out by an uninvited asteroid.
00:35Nature is slowly returning to life, the Paleocene epic.
00:40Titanoboa's home is lush and sweltering.
00:42The air is very humid, like in a steam room.
00:46And the rivers are teeming with fish, perfect for a predator like this.
00:50Now that the dinosaurs are gone, Titanoboa becomes the queen of hunting.
00:55It's perfectly built for both power and stealth.
01:00A strong, sturdy spine can hold the snake's massive size while staying smooth and silent.
01:07Titanoboa glides through the water like a shadow, barely visible.
01:11It doesn't chase.
01:12It doesn't need to.
01:14Titanoboa waits beneath the river's surface in darkness.
01:17A bunch of ancient lungfish meanders too close.
01:22With one surge, it lunges, its jaws snapping shut.
01:26The fish doesn't stand a chance.
01:28Titanoboa's grip is unrelenting.
01:30After the prey stops moving, the snake immediately consumes it all.
01:35For millions of years, this snake ruled the rainforests.
01:39Nothing could challenge it.
01:41Not the prehistoric crocodiles.
01:42Not the small mammals.
01:44Not even the birds.
01:46But, as it turns out, it wasn't the only apex predator.
01:51Alongside Titanoboa, there was this entire family of snakes.
01:55A huge biological tree full of snake genomes and species.
01:59Their history spans around 100 million years, all the way to the Cretaceous period.
02:06We find their fossils all over South America, Africa, India, and Australia.
02:11That's because they evolved in the Gondwanin continents.
02:15Back then, all of this was one huge landmass, and they lived right in the heart of it.
02:20Now, this family coexisted with all the dinosaurs.
02:24The dinosaurs ruled the world back then, and the snakes couldn't be all that dangerous.
02:28They lived in the dinosaur's shadow, adapting to survive.
02:33Some of them fed on small mammals.
02:35Others waited for the dinosaur eggs to hatch.
02:38Some were super bold and went straight for baby dinosaurs.
02:43Fossils of one species showed the remains of a little titanosaur.
02:47That giant long-necked dinosaur inside its stomach.
02:51And when the age of dinosaurs finally ended in a fiery cataclysm, it was time for these snakes to celebrate.
02:59After the asteroid disaster, the world entered a new era of heat and humidity.
03:04The warmer the client, the easier it is for cold reptiles to thrive.
03:10Snakes, including titanoboa, grew larger than ever.
03:14But so did the members of this family.
03:17All the snakes spread across continents, growing larger and scarier by the century.
03:22And eventually, titanoboa stopped being the only ruler of jungles.
03:29Fast forward to about 47 million years ago.
03:32Now it's the middle Eocene epoch.
03:35The tropical lowlands of what today is western India.
03:39A lush, swampy place, full of rivers and pools.
03:43The earth was warmer, with turtles and crocodile-like creatures basking in the sun.
03:47And there evolved the largest and most fearsome predator of them all.
03:53Vasuki indicus.
03:55Even the name feels important.
03:57Vasuki, the serpent king of Hindu mythology.
04:00A colossal snake that's coiled around the neck of Lord Shiva.
04:04Strong and loyal.
04:06And the indicus part is because the snake's fossils were discovered in India.
04:12Vasuki surpassed titanoboa.
04:14And grew to a jaw-dropping length of 50 feet, like a four-story building.
04:19It also weighed as much as a small elephant.
04:23Unlike titanoboa, who preferred to hunt in the rivers, Vasuki mostly hunted on land.
04:30Though it still could venture into the water when needed.
04:33It prowled the marshy ground with quiet, calculated movements.
04:37Blending with the dense undergrowth.
04:41Vasuki also ate crocodiles.
04:43Massive turtles.
04:45And even early whales in local water pools.
04:48No one stood a chance.
04:50It had immense muscles and squeezed with unimaginable force.
04:54But the snake's jaws were much scarier.
04:58Unlike titanoboa and today's pythons,
05:01Vasuki couldn't swallow massive prey whole.
05:04Instead, it ate them alive with its teeth, just like this.
05:08Fast and absolutely brutal, it was an apex predator of its time.
05:14And don't forget that we're not talking about one titanoboa or one Vasuki.
05:19These snakes were part of entire populations.
05:22In the Paleocene, rivers were full of various titanoboas.
05:27Some were younger, smaller ones, fighting for survival.
05:30While the oldest and largest ones dominated the waterways.
05:34In the same way as generations of Vasuki and Dickus competed with each other for thousands of years.
05:40Through the years, many siblings of this family got themselves a region to rule over.
05:47For example, alongside Vasuki, this big guy was thriving in northern Africa, in what is today's Egypt.
05:55Back then, this land was full of water and swamps.
05:58Before we learn more about other snakes, this one was considered the largest, about 36 feet long.
06:03That's still bigger than today's most powerful snakes, like the green anaconda.
06:10But then, we reached the Pleistocene epoch.
06:13From about 2.5 million years ago to only 11,000 years ago.
06:18Modern humans were evolving all over the world.
06:21And now, the snakes had a new problem.
06:23An even worse one than dinosaurs.
06:26While we were developing brains, in Australia, they're ruled the local king of snakes.
06:32Their names also come from legends.
06:35That's how indigenous Australians called their mythological rainbow serpent the creator of the world.
06:42It's like a problem of a chicken and an egg.
06:44Was the snake named after a deity?
06:46Or did the aboriginal people create their deity after a snake?
06:51Ancient Australians coexisted with those predators for thousands of years.
06:55They warned their children how to avoid dangerous spots, passing down stories of the terrifying serpents.
07:00In their legends, the great rainbow serpent was shaping the land, rivers, and features of the world.
07:07These legends were most likely inspired by the powerful nature of those snakes.
07:12If only they knew that these animals weren't even as huge as Vesuki or Titanoboa.
07:18Though they were still dangerous.
07:20Your lungor was up to 26 feet in length.
07:22They preferred the more green and humid parts of Miocene Australia, like waterways with lush plants around the riverbanks.
07:31And there was much more potential prey.
07:34Your lungor had a thick body as wide as a human thigh.
07:38It loved to hunt in what is today the Northwest Queensland.
07:42Its fossils were found in the limestone of Riversleigh.
07:46It was a fascinating find.
07:48The skull was almost intact, with teeth and everything.
07:52Which is crazy, considering that snake skulls are very fragile and usually don't survive fossilization.
07:58Just like snakes before it, your lungor didn't rely on venom.
08:02It was a constrictor, quick and powerful.
08:05But at least now, these reptiles weren't as brutal.
08:08Their hugs quickly caused cardiac arrest in their prey.
08:12So the end came rather quickly.
08:15Also, they no longer could swallow the prey whole.
08:18And didn't have the same sharp teeth as Vesuki or Titanoboa.
08:22So both your lungor and wanambi had to eat very slowly, just like pythons today.
08:29Meanwhile, wanambi was about 20 feet long.
08:32This one had a similar head, so it could only hunt marsupials, reptiles, and other little things that ventured too close.
08:40Wanambi's domain was the waterhole.
08:43It lay coiled in the shade, motionless, its body blending seamlessly with the dusty earth.
08:49If kangaroos and wallabies cautiously approached a drink, they wouldn't even notice the predator until it was too late.
08:56The wanambi snakes lingered in Australia for millions of years.
09:01Even when the climate and ecosystem changed, it didn't bother these guys.
09:05In fact, they thrived in Australia's cooler, drier regions.
09:09Yet, even giants fall.
09:11Time moved on, the earth cooled even more, and nature began to change.
09:17Wanambi managed to last up to around 50,000 years ago, and could have lasted longer if it wasn't for humans.
09:23The same aboriginal Australians who once feared wanambi eventually spelled the end for the snake.
09:30All these years of being the apex predator, only for the little apes to hunt you into extinction.
09:36But that's how evolution goes.
09:39Eventually, all the giant snakes disappeared, leaving behind only their fossils and stories like this one.
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