Top 11 largest and longest snakes in the world, where do they live?

With the ability to hunt extremely fast and swallow humans whole, giant snakes are found globally, from Southeast Asia to South America and the United States.

Researchers have just announced the discovery of fossils of a new species of snake that is believed to be the largest ever to live on Earth, with a body length of up to 15m. They named it Vasuki indicus.

Before Vasuki indicus, science had identified many species of giant snakes, from prehistoric snakes as long as Tyrannosaurus rex to common pythons and large snakes that constrict prey in modern times.

Below is a list of the largest, heaviest and longest snakes in the world that have existed and are currently in existence, compiled by Live Science.

1. Vasuki indicus (15m)

The Vasuki snake is related to the modern anaconda - (Photo: WaterFrame/Alamy Stock Photo)

This extinct giant snake was named after Vasuki, the mythical king of snakes in Hinduism.

Its fossilized vertebrae, published in April 2024, show it was a fully grown adult and likely 11 - 15m long.

Vasuki lived about 47 million years ago. It belongs to an extinct snake family called Madtsoiidae that appeared in the late Cretaceous period (100.5 million to 66 million years ago), in Africa, India, Australia, South America and southern Europe.

Researchers believe it had a wide cylindrical body and could live on land. It killed its prey by constriction, similar to modern snakes such as pythons and anacondas.

2. Titanoboa cerrejonensis (13m)

Titanoboa is one of the largest snakes to ever exist, up to 13m long - (Photo: MR1805/Getty Images).

Titanoboa cerrejonensis once lived in the humid forests and rivers of South America, eating crocodiles and river fish.

Dating back 60 million years ago, this snake is the prehistoric ancestor of today's pythons in the area. Its approximately 250 vertebrae form a giant frame 13 meters long. According to estimates by scientists at Indiana University, it weighs up to 1,130kg.

Its fossil remains were discovered in the early 2000s, located in rocks of the Cerrejón Formation, a geological landscape in Colombia.

3. Sea snake Palaeophis colossaeus (12m)

The sea snake Palaeophis colossaeus looks like the snake Laticauda colubrina (photo) - (Photo: Matteo Colombo/Getty Images).

Palaeophis colossaeus lived 100 million years ago. When its fossilized skeleton was discovered in what is now the Sahara Desert, researchers calculated it could have been more than 12 meters long, according to research published in the journal Acta Palaeontologica Polonica .

That makes it the longest sea snake ever found - and one of the longest known snakes. Although the head has not been found, from its skeleton, researchers determined that this giant creature's mouth was large enough to eat even a small whale.

Its descendants are tiny by comparison. Today's sea snakes rarely exceed 2 meters in length.

4. Gigantophis garstini (11m)

A fossil snake from the Ecoene period (55.8 to 33.9 million years ago) - (Photo: Williamhc/Getty Images).

Gigantophis garstini was a giant monster that lived about 40 million years ago with an estimated body length of 7 - 11m, according to a PLOS blog post.

This large snake, discovered in Egypt in 1901, is capable of coiling its giant body around its prey and eating them.

Researchers found that Gigantophis is related to another extinct giant called Madtsoia whose fossils were discovered in India, suggesting giant snakes once dominated parts of Asia.

5. Green Anaconda (10m)

Green Anaconda - (Photo: Mark Kostich/Getty Images).

Green anacondas (Eunectes murinus) live in wetlands and streams in the Amazon, where they can live long enough to reach 10 meters in length.

The green anaconda is the heaviest snake on Earth today, with some weighing up to 250kg, according to the Smithsonian National Zoo and Conservation Biology Institute.

There is no official record for the largest green anaconda, but in 2016, construction workers in Brazil came across one estimated to be 10m long and weigh 399kg.

6. Reticulated python (7.7m)

The reticulated python is the longest snake alive on Earth today - (Photo: Paul Starosta/Getty Images).

The reticulated python, king python or Asian reticulated python (Malayopython reticulatus) is recognized as the longest snake on Earth today.

According to the UK's Natural History Museum, reticulated pythons often grow to more than 6.25 meters long. According to Guinness World Records, the longest reticulated python kept in captivity is up to 7.7m in length.

Its size, coupled with its erratic temperament, is sometimes fatal to humans. In one incident in 2018, a woman in Indonesia was discovered in the belly of a bloated python.

However, these creatures can also be gentle. Like other python species, female reticulated pythons gently roll around their eggs and contract their muscles rhythmically to create heat that can be transferred to their young, helping them increase their ability to survive the cold, according to the San Diego Zoo.

7. Indian python (6.4m)

Indian pythons can weigh as much as a newborn elephant - (Photo: Ahmad Gharabli/Getty Images).

Native to the forests of India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Nepal, this Indian python (Python molurus) can grow up to 6.4m long and weigh nearly 100kg.

A close relative of the Burmese python, their faces also have sensitive membranes that can detect infrared radiation emitted from hyperthermic animals up to 1 meter away, according to a 2010 study in the journal Nature .

This adaptation helps them move silently toward their prey when hunting at night.

8. Cuban Boa (6m)

The Cuban boa is the largest snake in the Caribbean - (Photo: Wirestock/Getty Images).

The Cuban boa is native to Cuba and is the largest snake in the Caribbean. According to research published in the journal Reptiles & Amphibians , they weigh more than 30kg and are 5.65m long, with some reports claiming they can exceed 6m.

They spend most of their time curled up on tree branches or hunting lizards and rodents on the ground. They are also the only large snake known to hunt in groups.

In 2017, researchers recorded these solitary pythons coordinating to form a barrier at the entrance of a cave in a Cuban national park, to block the flight of bats in the cave, and then eat them again. .

9. Burmese Python (5.74m)

Burmese python - (Photo: Hillary Kladke/Getty Image).

The Burmese python (Python bivittatus) is native to Southeast Asia. They begin life in trees, but as they mature, their enormous size forces them to live underground.

According to Guinness World Records, the largest captive Burmese python is named Baby, 5.74m long. In the wild, these pythons are often more than 4.9 meters long, large enough to hunt crocodiles.

Burmese pythons have excellent directional instincts: when moved, they can follow a scent back home more than 32km, according to a study published in the journal Biology Letters in 2014.

10. King Cobra (5.71m)

King cobras are of Asian origin - (Photo: Dikky Oeasin/Getty Images).

King cobras are of Asian origin. According to the Smithsonian National Zoo and Wildlife Conservation Institute, they can be more than 5 meters long.

The longest king cobra ever recorded was a captive snake at London Zoo in the late 1930s, measuring 5.71 meters long, according to Guinness World Records, approximately the length of a shipping container. It was killed when World War II broke out to prevent it from escaping into the city in case the zoo was bombed.

Most venomous snakes do not grow into giant snakes. But king cobras are an "exception", making them the longest venomous snake on Earth.

11. Central African rock python (5m long)

The Central African rock python is the largest snake in Africa, can be up to 5m long - (Photo: Michele D'Amico/Getty Images).

The Central African rock python (Python sebae) is the largest snake in Africa, according to the Oregon Zoo. This species is highly adaptable and is found throughout sub-Saharan Africa, in grasslands, forests and deserts.

According to Animal Diversity Network (ADW), these pythons are on average 3 - 5 meters long.

Central African rock pythons can swallow quite large prey including antelopes and crocodiles. There have been several cases of African rock pythons attacking and even partially eating humans.

These snakes can swallow such large prey thanks to their very flexible jaws. "They can separate the upper and lower jaws when preparing to swallow prey, so they can often eat things much larger than the size of their heads ," said Patrick Campbell, a reptile expert at the National Museum. Museum of Natural History in London, England, said.