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    Fossils of colossal snake Vasuki unearthed in India mine. It is estimated at up to 49 feet (15 meters) in length – longer than a T. rex – and prowled the swamps of India around 47 million years ago.


    Fossils of colossal snake Vasuki unearthed in India mine. It is estimated at up to 49 feet (15 meters) in length – longer than a T. rex – and prowled the swamps of India around 47 million years ago.

    https://www.theglobeandmail.com/world/article-fossils-of-colossal-snake-vasuki-unearthed-in-india-mine/

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    1. Creative_soja on

      Link to the article: [https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-024-58377-0](https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-024-58377-0)

      Abstract:

      >Here we report the discovery of fossils representing partial vertebral column of a giant madtsoiid snake from an early Middle Eocene (Lutetian, ~ 47 Ma) lignite-bearing succession in Kutch, western India. The estimated body length of ~ 11–15 m makes this new taxon (*Vasuki indicus* gen et sp. nov.) the largest known madtsoiid snake, which thrived during a warm geological interval with average temperatures estimated at ~ 28 °C. Phylogenetically, *Vasuki* forms a distinct clade with the Indian Late Cretaceous taxon *Madtsoia pisdurensis* and the North African Late Eocene *Gigantophis garstini*. Biogeographic considerations, seen in conjunction with its inter-relationship with other Indian and North African madtsoiids, suggest that *Vasuki* represents a relic lineage that originated in India. Subsequent India-Asia collision at ~ 50 Ma led to intercontinental dispersal of this lineage from the subcontinent into North Africa through southern Eurasia.