A new genus and species of giant madtsoiid snake that lived in what is now India around 47 million years ago (early Middle Eocene epoch) has been identified from a partial vertebral column unearthed in the Indian state of Gujarat.
An artist’s impression of Vasuki indicus.
Scientifically named Vasuki indicus, the new species thrived during a warm geological interval with average temperatures estimated at 28 degrees Celsius.
The ancient snake was part of Madtsoiidae, an extinct group of primarily Gondwanan land snakes with a temporal range spanning about 100 million years from the Late Cretaceous epoch to the Late Pleistocene.
“The Madtsoiidae family existed for around 100 million years from the Late Cretaceous to the Late Pleistocene and lived in a broad geographical range including Africa, Europe, and India,” said Indian Institute of Technology Roorkee paleontologists Debajit Datta and Sunil Bajpai.
“Vasuki indicus represents a lineage of large madtsoiids that originated in the Indian subcontinent and spread via southern Europe to Africa during the Eocene, approximately 56 to 34 million years ago.”
Anterior trunk vertebrae of Vasuki indicus. Scale bar – 5 cm. Image credit: D. Datta & S. Bajpai, doi: 10.1038/s41598-024-58377-0.
A series of 27 mostly well-preserved vertebrae from a fully-grown Vasuki indicus was recovered from the Panandhro Lignite Mine, which is part of the Naredi Formation in the Gujarat state, western India.
The vertebrae measure between 3.75 and 6.3 cm (1.5-2.5 inches) in length and 6.24 and 11.14 cm (2.5-4.4 inches) in width, suggesting a broad, cylindrical body.
Vasuki indicus reached an estimated length of between 11 and 15 m (36-49 feet), making this species the largest known madtsoiid snake.
“This is comparable in size to the longest known snake to have ever lived, the extinct Titanoboa,” the researchers said.
“The large size of Vasuki indicus made it a slow-moving, ambush predator akin to an anaconda.”
“Biogeographic considerations, seen in conjunction with its inter-relationship with other Indian and North African madtsoiids, suggest that Vasuki indicus represents a relic lineage that originated in India,” they added.
“Subsequent India-Asia collision at 50 million years ago led to intercontinental dispersal of this lineage from the subcontinent into North Africa through southern Eurasia.”
“Recovery of additional material and new species, including large-sized forms, may provide further insights into madtsoiid systematics and biogeography.”
The study was published in the journal Scientific Reports.
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D. Datta & S. Bajpai. 2024. Largest known madtsoiid snake from warm Eocene period of India suggests intercontinental Gondwana dispersal. Sci Rep 14, 8054; doi: 10.1038/s41598-024-58377-0
