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Vasuki indicus, a giant Middle Eocene snake from the Panandhro mine in India

In 2024 the journal Scientific Reports described a giant snake, Vasuki indicus. The snake was named after Vasuki, the mythical king of snakes who coils around the neck of the god Shiva.

The scientists found 27 vertebrae in the Panandhro lignite mine in the state of Gujarat. The find is about 47 million years old, which places it in the Middle Eocene. The vertebrae reach 11 cm in width, which means that the snake's body was thick and heavy. Two methods of calculation gave a length of 10.9 to 12.2 m and of 14.5 to 15.2 m. The authors stress that these estimates are imprecise, and they do not venture to say whether Vasuki surpassed Titanoboa, which reached about 13 m and lived about 60 million years ago.

Most probably, Vasuki hunted by ambush and strangled its prey, like modern anacondas and pythons. It lived on land or in shallow swamps at a temperature of about 28 °C. The snake belonged to the extinct family Madtsoiidae. The authors suggest that this group originated in India and spread to other continents after India collided with Asia about 50 million years ago.

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Fragments of two colossal statues of Ramesses II found in the Nile Delta

Remains of the oldest known shipwreck in the Mediterranean found off Kekova Island

Limoges town hall set on fire during protest, building of 1883 partly destroyed

Dispute over damage to the Bayeux Tapestry after its move to the British Museum