A new species of giant snake has been discovered in the Amazon rainforest: it weighs up to 500 kg.

Scientists find world's largest reptiles

Scientists working in the Amazon rainforest have discovered a new species of snake, rumored to be the world's largest.

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A team from the University of Queensland traveled to the Ecuadorian Amazon in search of the previously undocumented northern green anaconda (Eunectes akayima), following an invitation from the Waorani people to observe the anacondas, “rumored to be the largest in existence,” according to scientists.

As reported by CNN, the team joined hunters on a 10-day expedition to the Bameno region of Bayouari Waorani territory before heading down the river system to «find a few anacondas lurking in the shallows waiting for prey,» said Professor Brian Fry, a biologist. from the University of Queensland, who led the team, said in a statement.

Anacondas are giant, non-venomous snakes that live in or near water in warm areas of South America, CNN recalls.

“The size of these magnificent creatures was incredible — one female anaconda we encountered reached an astounding 6.3 meters long,” Professor Brian Fry said of the team’s discovery, which was made while filming the upcoming National Geographic series Pole to Pole with Will Smith.

The team also said they had heard anecdotal evidence. that snakes 7.5 meters long and weighing 500 kilograms were seen in the area.

Green anacondas are the heaviest snakes in the world, according to the Natural History Museum of Great Britain, which noted that the heaviest specimen ever recorded weighed 227 kilograms. It was 8.43 meters long and 1.11 meters wide, CNN notes.

While another species, the reticulated python, tends to be longer — often reaching more than 6.25 meters in length , – it is lighter.

The discovery was made during the filming of the National Geographic series.

But experts studying these creatures have discovered that a newly identified species of northern green anaconda diverged from the southern green anaconda nearly 10 million years ago, and they differ genetically by 5.5%.

“That's pretty significant — if To put this into perspective, humans are only about 2 percent different from chimpanzees,” Fry said. The results are described in the journal MDPI Diversity.

The team then decided to compare the green anaconda's genetics with other specimens elsewhere to evaluate them as indicator species of ecosystem health, and warned that the Amazon faces multiple threats.

“Deforestation of the Amazon due to agricultural expansion has led to an estimated 20 to 31 percent habitat loss, which could affect up to 40 percent of its forests by 2050,” Fry said.

Habitat degradation, forest fires, drought and climate change threaten rare species such as anacondas, which exist in such rare ecosystems, the professor added.