Gigantophis

Gigantophis Temporal range: Late Eocene, 40 Ma PreЄ Є O S D C P T J K Pg N ↓
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Sauropsida
Order:	Squamata
Suborder:	Serpentes
Family:	†Madtsoiidae
Genus:	†Gigantophis
Species:	†G. garstini
Binomial name
Gigantophis garstini C. W. Andrews, 1901

Gigantophis garstini was a giant prehistoric snake which may have measured more than 10 m (33 ft), larger than any living species of snake. Before the Paleocene constrictor genus Titanoboa was described from Colombia in 2009, Gigantophis was regarded as the largest snake ever. Gigantophis lived about 40 million years ago in the northern Sahara, where Egypt and Algeria are now located.

Discovery

The species is known only from a small number of fossils, mostly vertebrae.

Species

Gigantophis is classified as a member of the Madtsoiidae family.

Size

Jason Head, of the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, DC, has compared the fossil vertebrae of a Gigantophis to those of the largest modern snakes, and concluded that the extinct snake could grow from 9.3 to 10.7 m (31 to 35 ft) in length. If 10.7 m (35 ft), it would have been more than 10% longer than its largest living relatives. This species was once thought to be the largest species of snake in Earth's history, but was later replaced by Titanoboa.