Titanoboa was the biggest snake that ever lived on Earth. It lived around 60 million years ago, a few million years after the dinosaurs went extinct. That was a time when the Earth was much hotter than today.

This snake was a real giant. It could grow up to 13 meters long (that’s about 43 feet, longer than a school bus). It also weighed more than 1,000 kilograms (over 2,200 pounds). That’s heavier than a horse and as thick as a car.

But don’t think it had venom. It didn’t need it. Titanoboa killed by squeezing its prey to death, just like how modern boas and pythons do. It wrapped around animals and crushed their bones with its powerful muscles.

Titanoboa lived in the rainforests of ancient South America, mainly in what is now Colombia. Back then, the jungle was super hot and wet—perfect for cold-blooded animals like snakes to grow really big.

This snake mostly ate big fish and maybe even small crocodiles. It hunted in the water and on land. Since there were no big meat-eating dinosaurs anymore, Titanoboa was the top predator. Nothing messed with it.

Its fossils were found in a coal mine in a place called Cerrejón. That’s how scientists discovered it and gave it the name Titanoboa, which means “Titanic Boa.”