Nature
How Will Smith discovered the world’s largest snake on trip to the Amazon
While filming ‘Pole to Pole with Will Smith’ documentary-makers encountered a new giant anaconda species that “may be the largest in existence”.
As a wildly-successful actor, rapper and film producer, Will Smith can turn his hands to most things. Even helping to push new boundaries of scientific discovery.
Last year he was in the Amazon rainforest to film a new documentary series, ‘Pole to Pole with Will Smith’, when his team made an astonishing discovery. Researchers discovered a new species of snake, believed to be the largest in the world.
How long is Will Smith’s snake?
The episode was actually focused on the Amazon rainforest’s Waorani people, but scientist Brian Fry noticed a snake that was more than 20 feet long.
After a detailed study of the animal they were able to conclude that it was a species never seen or filmed before, now known as a Northern Green Anaconda. The animal measured about seven meters long and weighed more than 200 kilos.
“It was in shallow waters, lying in wait for its prey,” said the biologist, adding that these snakes are highly revered by the Waorani people.
Visually the Northern Green Anaconda is very similar to the Southern Green Anaconda, although the genetic variance between the two is actually around 5%. Fry explained: “That’s quite significant. To put it in perspective, humans and chimpanzees differ by only 2%.“
According to National Geographic, this species of anacondas typically live up to ten years in the wild and are not poisonous. However, as they belong to the boa family, they do have the ability to encircle and strangle their prey.
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