2024-02-29 18:30:00
An enormous Anaconda, perhaps the largest in the world, was discovered in the Ecuadorian Amazon during the filming of Will Smith’s travel and adventure documentary.
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The reptile was found through a combined effort by a team of scientists from the University of Queensland and the indigenous Huaorani people of Bameno in Baihuaeri Waorani territory.
According to the press release, the animal is almost 10 million years old, and newly named “Northern Green Anaconda” or Eunectes akayima.
Photo credit JESUS RIVAS
The size of these creatures is impressive: a female Anaconda seen during this filming by scientific explorer Bryan Fry reached a length of 6.3 meters or 20.6 feet.
Scientists received a surprising invitation from the Waorani people to research Anaconda snakes while filming the TV show “Pole to Pole with Will Smith.”
AFP
Indigenous hunters guided the group of scientists into the jungle for a 10-day expedition to observe these snakes, which they consider sacred, according to Fry.
According to his interview with the New York Post, Fry explained that they traveled the river in a canoe and were fortunate to find several snakes hiding in the shallows, lying in wait for prey.
Photo credit JESUS RIVAS
According to the study published February 16 in the journal MDPI Diversity, the species known as the green anaconda is actually divided into two types of genetically distinct species.
Even if the physical resemblance between these two reptiles is misleading, the genetic differences would be considerable, according to biologist and co-author of the study in question, Bryan Fry.
“The genetic differences are of the order of 5.5%. To put things in context, we are about 2% different from chimpanzees,” he explains in National Geographic.
Fry and the other scientists took blood and tissue samples from snakes in Ecuador, Venezuela and Brazil, the process being documented for Will Smith’s show.
AFP
For Bryan Fry, this important discovery is the “highlight of his career,” according to the Post.
With a weight of over 220 kg or 485 pounds and a length of over 8.5 meters or 27.8 feet, the largest Anaconda snakes would surely be capable of killing and swallowing a human.
The National Geographic documentary series hosted by Will Smith will be broadcast on Disney+.
For more details on the study and scientific research, visit natgeo.com.
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