Green anaconda - Eunectes murinus

[guategojira]

14 m is already a Titanoboa!!!

I think that anaconda’s maximum length could be c.7 m (23 ft), while pythons had been measured up to 25 ft (7.6 m) in captivity, so a maximum of c.8 m (26 ft) in the wild could be reliable. The famous case of the python of 10 m recorded in Guinness suffers of the same lack of evidence like the record of Pope.

Any length of 9-15 m remains in the world of prehistoric snakes like Titanoboa (15 m), Gigantophis (11.28 m) and Madtsoia (10 m).

[guategojira]

Apr 1, 2014 1:37:07 GMT 5 blaze said:

Do you have Wood (1978) in digital form?

lol with that smiley, on topic, lots of old records are like that, what is surprising is that back then they were totally convinced that 9m anacondas were a thing, also Darren Naish wrote giant snakes some years ago. link

In fact, I have both, a digital version and a physical version. As my book is in excellent conditions, I try not scan it because the pages can be ripped apart, so I just copy the pages from the digital version. They are the same version (1978), so there is no problem.

Anaconda is among, if not, the most exaggerated animals on size issues. Sharks are the next example, with huge 10 ft white ones been recorded that at the end, they were no near that size.

[guategojira]

The report of the 500 lb anaconda is FALSE!!!

I was digging even more in this new world of the reptiles and guess what? I have found that the famous, often quoted, record of 500 lb for the heaviest anaconda is a misquote of already existing estimation. Check this out:


This image shows the often quoted record, the giant of 846 cm in length and an estimated weight of 500 lb. However, I relay in the original source of all this animal records (Wood, 1978) and check what I found:


The length is the same, the girth is the same, the place is the same, but the estimated weight is of 400 lb!!! How and when Guinness add 100 lb more in the estimation??? At the end, this estimation, based on a previous estimation, is WRONG.

At the end, although the record of 846 cm could be reliable (there is no more data about this specimen, sadly), the estimated record was at 400 lb, but check this final image:


It seems that, hypothetically, a 9 m anaconda could weight 272 kg, however, we must take in count that this study used captive specimens, which are often fatter than wild specimens, especially among snakes.

There is another record of 360 lb (163 kg) for a wild 594 cm anaconda (I will discuss it latter), and based on the data, it seems that this could be the highest reliable weight for the species, although some data is still unclear.

[guategojira]

Gerard Wood (1976) and the giant anacondas:

Gerard present a good list of possible real giants among the anacondas, some of them seems to be real measurements, other seems estimations and a few are purely skin records. A has read the full account, and from my point of view, these are the specimens that I could classify as “reliable” from the entire list:

1. A huge snake hunted in Guayana that measured 594 cm (19 ft 6 in). It seems that it was actually measured and the length itself doesn’t seem inaccurate. Although Wood don’t mention any weight, Harper & Row (1972) states that Verrill (the guy that hunted the snake) reported a weight of 360 lb (163.3 kg). Here is the image:

How reliable is the account? I could not say, but from my point of view, the length seems reliable, but the weight represent a problem, as it is the highest true body mass recorded by a good margin. Besides, even if we believe that this is a reliable figure, it probably included some stomach content, was pregnant or both!

2. A large specimen of 548 cm (18 ft) hunted in Guayana by Robert Schomburgk. No other data is available. Again, not a spectacular specimen, compared with other records.

3. A large female of 525 cm (17 ft 3 in), hunted in the Yampari River, Guayana (again? ); had a girth of 711 mm (28 in) but because it had just killed an 243 cm-8 ft alligator.

4. The famous record from Schurz of the huge female of 846 cm (27 ft 9 in) in length, a girth of 111 cm (44 in) and an estimated weight of 400 lb (181 kg). The snake came from Brazil.

5. A large 731 cm (24 ft) female shot by Paul Fountain in Brazil, with a girth of 106 cm (42 in).

6. A Peruvian snake of 816 cm (26 ft 9 in) hunted in Iquitos by Col Leonard Clark.

This are the only six specimens that I believe, it could be reliable. The following two seems to be, from my point of view, just estimations.

a. A large specimen of “just over 670 cm (22 ft)” hunted in Guayana by Cap J. G. Stedman. Why only “just” and not the true figure?

b. Alfred Wallace wrote that he never say an Amazonian anaconda of “over 609 cm (20 ft)”. This seems to be just a extreme possible figure, not a true record.

The final record is of a female of 781 cm (25 ft 8 in) that was eating a collared peccary estimated to weight 45 kg (100 lb). This record is, apparently, the same mentioned by Boos (2001). Check the account:

The length is not the same, and there is no mention of the weight (370 lb, without the peccary), but the presence of the peccary weighing 100 lb is very very similar to be ignored just like that. However, at least in the last case, the snake was, apparently, of “just” 488 cm in length.

Using this data from wild specimens, it is possible to suggest that female anacondas from 525 – 846 cm in length are fairly possible in the wild, and that although the largest of these was estimated at 400 lb, the heaviest specimen recorded was of 360 lb (c.163 kg), probably including some food or caused by pregnancy.

What do you thing guys???

[guategojira]

Captive anacondas:

Wood (1978) and Boos (2001) present the length and weight of some captive specimens. This will be useful for future comparisons:

Wood (1978):
1. Female of 628 cm (20 ft 7 in) from the Highland Park Zoological Gardens, Pennsylvania, USA. This seems reliable.

2. Specimen of 8 m (26 ft 3 in) from the Rio de Janeiro Zoo, Brazil. However, Mr. P. J. Davey (British Vice-Consul in Rio) says that the snake in question actually measured only 5 m (16 ft 5 in). So, it is unreliable, at least in the first figure.

Boos (2001):
1. A large female named “Big Annie”, of 579 cm (19 ft), 91.4 cm (36 in) in girth and a weight of 236 lb. (107 kg), housed in the Bronx Park Zoo. However Harper & Row (1972) point out that this weight is not “real” per se, as she latter give birth to 72 youngsters. Pg. 71-71.

2. Another large female of 518 cm (17 ft) gives birth to 34 young. It is no say where she was housed. Pg. 71.

3. A captive specimen of 528 cm (17 ft 4 in) is reported. Pg. 80.

4. Finally, there is a female of 503 cm (16 ft 6 in) that weighed 232 lb (105.2 kg), but there is no mention of the place where these last specimens were housed. Pg. 80.

Here is the picture of the snake named “Big Annie”:


This data suggest that female anacondas in captivity reach similar length than those of the wild, although slightly larger body mass. The length recorded range from 503-628 cm and the weights are of 105 – 107 kg, including newborns.

I think this is enough information to form us a good opinion about the real size of the anaconda.

You can post your own data to enrich the conversation.

Greetings to all.

[blaze]

It seems like thanks to those captive specimens being probably very badly measured canceled out their tendency to being overweight or obese as 272kg for a 9m snake results in condition index of 8.1, exactly that of the average non-pregnant female from Rivas (2000). I'm still highly skeptical of records over 7m though considering Rivas' work about the high error bars when measuring snakes with less than ideal methods in less than ideal conditions and seeing how most of those records are from hunters who have bragging rights to gain by claiming they killed giants and we only have their words as the only "evidence", it's similar with zoos, they are also prone to exaggerate.

Regarding the 163kg snake, a 594cm total length roughly translates to a 525cm SVL, at that weight the resulting condition index is 10.4, a whole point higher than the average for a pregnant female, looking at Rivas plots there were at least a couple of adult females with values over 10 so it is very likely to be a reliable weight but one that is definitely being bumped up by the snake in question being pregnant and very fat, this same snake could weight just 77kg when not pregnant.

My opinion is that female green anacondas living in rivers can normally get to "only" 6m at max and only 80kg-100kg when not pregnant, weights higher than that probably have been recorded, as the previously mentioned case but they involve a pregnant and/or very fat snake.

I'm afraid I can't contribute much more, I posses very few snake papers.

btw can you share Wood (1978)?

[guategojira]

Yes, or course, here it is:







This is the part where the anaconda with the peccary is mentioned:


Enjoy the reading.

[creature386]

Prepare animal world, after our member blaze has destroy the giant sizes of your prehistoric giants, the extant giants surely felt safe down sizing. Well, we now have guategojira for you.

P.S. Sorry for the spam comment, I just found it funny.

[guategojira]

Jajajaja! Good one creature386.

[blaze]

guategojira
Thanks! haha though, I meant the whole book lol I've searched a lot for it but it's totally fine if you don't want to, specially if you bought it.

[guategojira]

Apr 3, 2014 9:48:16 GMT 5 blaze said:

guategojira
Thanks! haha though, I meant the whole book lol I've searched a lot for it but it's totally fine if you don't want to, specially if you bought it.

Sorry man, I don't understand quite clear what you mean. Do you want the full digital book, or the scans? I can provide you the link if you want, but the book can't be downloaded, I can only copy it page by page.
 

[blaze]

Oh I thought you had a pdf of the book, can you share the link then? sorry for the confusion.

[guategojira]

Here is the link: openlibrary.org/works/OL14928697W/Animal_facts_and_feats

Choose the section "Borrow" and "eBook"

However, you most take in count this:

1. This is like a physical library, if you borrow it (the ebook), you most return it, in order than other people can read it too.
2. If the book is already borrow, you most wait until the book is again available.
3. Use it only the necesary time. If you are not going to read it, return it for the use of other persons.

You most create an account first, but don't worry, it is completely free.

Enjoy the reading.

[blaze]

Thanks a lot!

[guategojira]

As my old images will be visible until 26 of this month, check this page, here I put the same data and the same images.

wildfact.com/forum/topic-the-size-of-the-anaconda-eunectes-murinus

Sorry for the inconvenient. Greetings to all.