Titanoboa Was a 45-Foot Long Giant Snake That Ruled Prehistoric Earth

What was the Titanoboa? The massive snake was similar to today's anaconda, but was a prehistoric apex predator. Learn where it was located and why it went extinct.

By Sara Novak
Dec 22, 2023 6:00 PMJun 4, 2025 9:34 PM
Titanoboa snake coming out of the water
The massive, 45-foot Titanoboa snake. (Credit: Daniel Eskridge/Shutterstock)

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Key Takeaways on Titanoboa: 

  • Titanoboa, also known as Titanoboa cerrejonensis, was a real species of snake that lived during the Paleocene around 58 million years to 60 million years ago. It thrived alongside other enormous species like 13-foot crocodiles and 8-foot turtles. The Titanoboa might have looked similar to today's anaconda snake, only much larger. 

  • Titanoboa was about 45 feet on average, which is a third larger than the green anaconda snake, the largest snake that exists today. The weight of Titanoboa was estimated to be around 1,135 kg (2,500 pounds).

  • The prehistoric snake could easily overpower and consume any number of giant turtles or crocodiles that fell victim to its forceful bite.


It was the first epoch after the age of dinosaurs in a part of the world that had recently recovered from an asteroid blast of epic magnitudes. The blast birthed the tropical rainforests along the equator that exist today. A landscape that was damp and swampy, covered in dense tropical rainforests — ample places for Titanoboa to hide.

The largest snake in the world lived during the Paleocene, around 58 million years to 60 million years ago. It thrived alongside other enormous species like 13-foot crocodiles and 8-foot turtles. They might have looked similar to today, only much larger.

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