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Anacondas

The anacondas are the world’s biggest snakes. The anaconda is also called the Water Boa. This is because the anaconda snakes are related to the boa constrictor and spends much of their time submerged in shallow waters, predominantly in the swampy areas of tropical South America.

There has been no unanimity in the reported size to which the anacondas could grow. However, documented evidence records anacondas measuring as long as 10 meters or 25 feet, while unverified claims allege anaconda snakes as long as 30-45 meters or approximately 100-150 feet long to exist. The largest anaconda ever measured was nearly 28 feet long and had a girth of 44 inches. Though it hadn’t been weighed then, scientists estimate her weight to have been in excess of 500 pounds.

Despite their large size and charisma, the anacondas remained the least studied among the snakes for long. However, Dr Jesus A. Rivas’s pioneering studies on the green anaconda in Venezuela robbed this huge and ferocious snake of some of its awe and mystery.

The zoological classification of the anacondas may be spelt out as:

Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Reptilia
Order: Squamata (lizards and snakes)
Suborder: Serpentes
Family: Boidae (constrictors)
Genus: Eunectes
Species: Murinus.

It is interesting to mull on the likely etymological origin of the name “anaconda” of this formidable snake. Two possible origins suggest themselves. The first is that the name was derived from the Tamil word “anaikondran”, meaning an “elephant killer”. The second suggestion has been that the name has been a derivative from the Tamil word “annaikonda”, which means “having killed an elephant”. It remains a matter of conjecture how the name for the anacondas could originate from a language and a land that is geographically so distant as Sri Lanka is from South America. It may be added that local variants of the anaconda’s names include the Spanish reference to it as “matatoro” or “bull-killer”. Besides, the Latin name “Eunectes” draws from the corresponding Greek name “Euvnkcnc”, meaning a “good swimmer”.

The anacondas are usually greenish-brown, with a double row of black oval spots on the back, and a glistening skin. The anaconda breathes easily when it is underwater through its snouts. The anacondas smell with their tongue. The anacondas have no teeth, but instead, they possess fangs.

The anacondas are carnivores and nocturnal by nature. Anacondas have no venom, and kill their prey by constricting or squeezing until it can no longer breathe. Thus, the anaconda causes its prey’s death by asphyxia or internal bleeding. The anaconda snakes may also choose to drown their preys.

The anaconda is today, unfortunately, an endangered species. A keen worldwide consumer demand for such products as handbags, shoes and decorative items made from the skins of the anaconda snakes has undoubtedly led to a considerable whittling down in numbers of the mammoth anacondas of the shallow waters that could with ease, hypothetically at least, devour both man and beast alike.

To know more interesting facts about the anacondas and to watch the real anacondas attacking humans and eating giant animals like hippos, just go to my anaconda snake portal.

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