No evidence a 50-foot snake exists
The longest snakes recorded have reached lengths of around 20 feet, according to experts.
(Reuters) - According to experts, the longest snakes recorded have reached lengths of around 20 feet. There is no evidence a 50-feet (15 meter) specimen was spotted alongside a river as claimed in a video shared on social media.
Examples on Instagram and Facebook including a clip of the alleged discovery are available here: ( here ), ( here ). In one video, it is claimed it was recorded in Congo, Africa ( here ).
Reuters could not identify the original source of the clip, but it has been circulating on the internet since at least 2015, alongside descriptions referring to different locations and alleged lengths of the specimen ( bit.ly/43gjtBw ).
Experts contacted by Reuters, however, said there is no record of a living snake that reaches a length of 50 feet.
Stevie Kennedy-Gold, collection manager of the Herpetology Department at Harvard Museum of Comparative Zoology ( bit.ly/3U6UDzG ), told Reuters that the biggest snake species, most of which are in the Boidae and Pythonidae families, can reach lengths of 20 feet if conditions are right.
“I have never heard of an extant (currently living) species of snake that can grow this long. Extinct ones that lived millions of years ago could, conceivably, reach these types of lengths,” she said, via email.
Smithsonian Magazine reported that boas can be up to 14-feet-long and anacondas could exceed 20 feet ( bit.ly/3U5K9kf ).
The Natural History Museum of London says on its website that the reticulated python reaches sizes over 20 feet. They say the longest python ever registered was found in 1912 measuring 32.2 feet and the biggest anaconda on record was 27.6 feet ( bit.ly/3TB2Tb5 ).
Other institutions, such as the San Diego Zoo in the United States or the Chester Zoo in England, present similar numbers ( bit.ly/3Z9ySjQ ), ( bit.ly/3FL1clA ).
A 2012 Smithsonian Magazine article details how a 40-foot-long fossil of a prehistoric stunned scientists in Colombia ( bit.ly/3U5K9kf ).
The Ministry of Environment of Congo did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment.
VERDICT
No evidence. The biggest snakes recorded are up to 20 feet long, according to experts.
