2009-02-05 中國時報 【法新社】 嘖嘖稱奇的科學家已發現到全球最巨大蟒蛇的化石殘骸，此改寫紀錄巨蟒的體長約13公尺，體重約1.135噸，能輕易生吞一頭牛，並以鱷魚當點心。 英國科學期刊「自然」（Nature）今天披露的報告指出，此巨蟒於大約6000萬年前，橫行在如今的哥倫比亞境內熱帶雨林，當時全球氣候遠較當今炎熱。 此巨蟒的脊椎骨顯示，它的體重約1.135噸，範圍介於730公斤至2.03噸間。鼻子到尾巴的長度約為13公尺，範圍介於10.64至15公尺間。 共同領導這項研究的佛羅里達大學脊椎動物古生物學家卜洛克（Jonathan Block）表示，「真正巨大的蟒蛇的確引人遐想，但現實世界已凌駕好萊塢幻想。在『大蟒蛇-神出鬼沒』（Anaconda）影片中試圖吞噬珍妮佛羅培茲（Jennifer Lopez）的那條蟒蛇，沒有我們發現的巨蟒大。」 紐約康乃爾大學（Cornell University）頂尖蛇類專家葛林（Harry Greene）表示，「此哥倫比亞巨蟒，是真正令人振奮的發現，多年來，爬蟲學家一直對蛇類到底能長到多巨大爭論不休，尚有爭議的估計是大約不到40英尺（12.3公尺）。」 今日世界上最長蛇類是亞洲網紋蟒（reticulated Python），通常能生長到約10公尺長。就體重而言，最重蟒蛇是綠森蚺（Green Anaconda），體重可達227公斤。
以下是Nature的原文摘錄
Letter
Nature 457, 715-717 (5 February 2009)
Giant boid snake from the Palaeocene neotropics reveals hotter past equatorial temperatures
Jason J. Head1, Jonathan I. Bloch2, Alexander K. Hastings2, Jason R. Bourque2, Edwin A. Cadena2,3, Fabiany A. Herrera2,3, P. David Polly4 & Carlos A. Jaramillo3
Abstract
The largest extant snakes live in the tropics of South America and southeast Asia1, 2, 3 where high temperatures facilitate the evolution of large body sizes among air-breathing animals whose body temperatures are dependant on ambient environmental temperatures (poikilothermy)4, 5. Very little is known about ancient tropical terrestrial ecosystems, limiting our understanding of the evolution of giant snakes and their relationship to climate in the past. Here we describe a boid snake from the oldest known neotropical rainforest fauna from the Cerrejón Formation (58–60 Myr ago) in northeastern Colombia. We estimate a body length of 13 m and a mass of 1,135 kg, making it the largest known snake6, 7, 8, 9. The maximum size of poikilothermic animals at a given temperature is limited by metabolic rate4, and a snake of this size would require a minimum mean annual temperature of 30–34 °C to survive. This estimate is consistent with hypotheses of hot Palaeocene neotropics with high concentrations of atmospheric CO2 based on climate models10. Comparison of palaeotemperature estimates from the equator to those from South American mid-latitudes indicates a relatively steep temperature gradient during the early Palaeogene greenhouse, similar to that of today. Depositional environments and faunal composition of the Cerrejón Formation indicate an anaconda-like ecology for the giant snake, and an earliest Cenozoic origin of neotropical vertebrate faunas.
另外請參見Nature編輯以及Wikipedia對此研究的介紹,
