Vasuki is an extinct genus of madtsoiid snake from the Middle EoceneNaredi Formation of India. The genus contains a single species, V. indicus, known from several vertebrae. Vasuki has an estimated body length between 10.9–15.2 m (36–50 ft), making it the largest known madtsoiid. The upper bounds of the length estimates would make Vasuki the longest snake ever discovered.
Discovery and naming
Kutch Basin geology and Vasuki locality
The holotype specimen of Vasuki, IITR/VPL/SB 3102-1-21, was discovered in 2005 within the sedimentary layers of the Naredi Formation in the PanadhroLignite Mine in the Kutch district of Gujarat State, western India.[1] The specimen consists of 27 pre-cloacal vertebrae, some of which were found in articulation.[2] The fossil material was found some time after 2004, and preliminary analyses suggested crocodilian affinities for the fossil material without further review.[3]
The body length estimations of Vasuki are derived from predictive regression equations:[2] one based on postzygapophyseal width,[4] and the other based on prezygapophyseal width.[5] The former equation resulted in a body length range of 10.9–12.2 metres (36–40 feet), while the latter equation resulted in a body length range of 14.5–15.2 metres (48–50 feet).[2] Although the vertebral dimensions of Vasuki are smaller than those of Titanoboa (estimated at 12.8 m (42 ft) ± 2.2 m (7 ft 3 in)), the largest length estimates indicate a longer body for Vasuki.[2][6]
Unlike other large-bodied snakes like Titanoboa,[4]Vasuki was probably not an aquatic animal. Its vertebral morphology instead suggests a terrestrial (or possibly semi-aquatic) lifestyle when compared to related madtsoiids and modern pythonoids. The Vasuki fossils were deposited in a backswampmarsh. Large extant pythonids are found in similar habitats.[2]
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