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The tale of the enormous viper begins in 1857, when paleontologist Sir Richard Owen — the person who coined the word "dinosaur" — described 13 fossilized snake vertebrae found near Thessaloniki, Greece. Owen named the specimen Laophis crotaloides and reported it as the largest viper ever in the Quarterly Journal of The Geological Society (Vipers are one family of venomous snake, known for their hollow, retractable fangs.) But the original 13 vertebrae have been lost, and no one had ever found any additional fossils to back up Owen's claim, said study researcher Georgios Georgalis, a graduate student at Aristotle University of Thessaloniki. That is, until recently.
Now, a single vertebra, barely an inch long, found near Thessaloniki, confirms the existence of Owen's enormous viper.
Laophis crotaloides measured between 10 and 13 feet (3 and 4 meters) long and weighed a whopping 57 lbs. (26 kilograms). Today's longest venomous snakes, king cobras (Ophiophagus hannah), can grow to be about 18 feet (5.5 m) long. But at typical weights between 15 and 20 lbs. (6.8 to 9 kg), king cobras are scrawny compared to Laophis.
originally posted by: skunkape23
Here's a pic of a 15 ft rattler found in Arizona.
I've seen one around 10 ft.
I came across a guy while hiking in North Carolina. He had been laying beside a stream for 3 days.
A big rattler hit him and snapped his leg.
Sometimes it pays to watch your step.