Meet Vasuki Indicus, the ‘crocodile’ that was a 50ft snake

Meet Vasuki Indicus, the ‘crocodile’ that was a 50ft snake

NEW DELHI/ROORKEE: A fossil found in 2005 from Gujarat’s Kutch and believed till now to be that of a giant crocodile has turned out to be of one of the largest snakes that ever existed on Earth .

The discovery of ‘Vasuki Indicus’ by scientists of IIT, Roorkee could prove to be a “jackpot” of information of the evolutionary process, continental shift and India’s vital link to origin of many species, especially reptiles, researchers say. According to Sunil Bajpai, chair professor in IIT-Roorkee’s department of earth sciences, this serpent measuring between 11m (36ft) and 15m (49.22ft) could have been even longer than the now extinct Titanoboa, which once lived in Colombia. The closest relatives of ‘Vasuki Indicus’, the study finds, are Titanoboa and python.

Researchers said the large size of ‘Vasuki Indicus’, named after the mythical king of serpents usually depicted round the neck of Shiva and in reference to its country of discovery, would have made it a slow-moving, ambush predator akin to an anaconda.

The study named, ‘Largest known madtsoiid snake from warm Eocene period of India suggests intercontinental Gondwana dispersal”, was published in ‘Scientific Reports’ on ‘Springer Nature’ platform on Friday.

Bajpai and post-doctoral fellow Debajit Datta from IIT-Roorkee said the fossil of this snake recovered from the Panandhro Lignite Mine in Kutch dates back to Middle Eocene period, approximately 47 million years ago. During their exploration, the researchers discovered 27 well-preserved vertebrae that appear to be from a fully grown reptile. Its length makes it the the largest known madtsoiid snake, which thrived during a warm geological interval with average temperatures estimated at 28°C.

On the finding which is as much scientific as much accidental, Bajpai said: “The fossil was found in 2005, but since I have been working on different other fossils, it went on the backburner. In 2022, we started re-examining the fossil. Initially, due to its size, I thought it was of a crocodile. But then we realised it was of a snake and it turned out to be the biggest in its family and possibly one of the biggest and similar to Titanoboa.”

The scientists claim that comparing its inter-relationship with other Indian and North African madtsoiids, ‘Vasuki’ represents a now-extinct relic lineage that originated in India. Subsequent India-Asia collision led to intercontinental dispersal of this lineage from the subcontinent into North Africa through southern Eurasia. “Though this discovery we have been able to show that we have some of the most remarkable snakes in India as well as other species,” said Bajpai, who along with his fellow reserachers had also discovered the fossil of a plant-eating dinosaur believed to be 167 million years old, in Jaisalmer last year.

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