The anaconda of the photo is the largest. Huge anaconda underwater. Description and appearance

Anaconda is common name four types snake. And speaking with scientific accuracy, anacondas are a genus of snakes belonging to the subfamily of boas. You can see photos of boas on our website, at this link photos and descriptions of all genera of snakes in the subfamily of boas. On this page we will describe and provide photos of only representatives of the anaconda genus.

The giant anaconda is the first species we'll look at; it is this species that is most often called simply - anaconda. In the scientific literature, this species is also called the common anaconda or green anaconda. The name green anaconda is a tracing paper (in linguistics, tracing paper is a borrowing with a literal translation) with English name this species of green anaconda snake.

Some individuals of this species do have a greenish skin tone. Here is a photo of a giant anaconda in an aquarium in Boston.

Exactly the kind giant anaconda- this is the most large view snake, of all modern species. The mass of the largest anaconda reached almost one hundred kilograms. She was caught and measured in Venezuela, the exact weight was 97.5 kg with a length of 5.2 meters. It was a female, in this species the females are larger than the males.

In the local press, there were sometimes reports of encounters with specimens ten meters or more long, but there is no reliable evidence of the existence of anacondas of this size.

The giant anaconda, like other types of anacondas, leads a predominantly aquatic lifestyle. She prefers quiet water bodies, such as lakes, oxbow lakes, low-flowing arms of the Amazon and Orinoco rivers.

Giant anaconda after a successful hunt.

The giant anaconda sometimes crawls ashore and basks in the sun, but never move far from the water.

Photo - the muzzle of a giant anaconda looks out of the water.

Anaconda feels great underwater, it not only swims, but also dives well, it can not rise to the surface for a long time. When diving, her nostrils are closed with special valves.

In some habitats of this species of anacondas, there are seasonal droughts. In the case of shallowing of the reservoir, anacondas either move to another, or burrow into the silt and hibernate. With the resumption of the rainy season, the snake wakes up.

Like all snakes, anacondas shed. Their molting takes place underwater. When kept in captivity, snakes often rub against the walls of the pools, gradually pulling off their old skin.

Most of the year green anacondas spend alone, only in April-May, when the rainy season in the Amazon, they gather in groups. This time is special for them - they begin the mating period.

Giant anacondas, like all other representatives of the genus of boas, are ovoviviparous. After bearing the offspring for 6-7 months, the female gives birth to 25-40 cubs. Babies are 50-80 centimeters long and are completely independent from the first day. Rare cases are known when the anaconda laid eggs.

Common anacondas feed on small animals. Lying in wait for prey near the water, the snake attacks it with lightning speed and then strangles it, tightly wrapping itself in rings around the body of the victim.

The danger to the anaconda is only a large cat - jaguar. These cats are not afraid of water and can catch, kill and eat an anaconda, but this is rare.

Paraguayan anaconda

Paraguayan anaconda, or yellow anaconda - the species has a specific color, maximum length adult is equal to four meters.

In terms of lifestyle, the Paraguayan anaconda is practically no different from other representatives of its kind: it lives in the water, occasionally crawling out onto land, feeds on small animals, reproduces not by laying eggs, but gives birth to cubs.

The Paraguayan anaconda is easy to breed in captivity. Females give birth from 7 to 40 cubs, childbirth can occur both in water and on land. Cubs from the moment of birth begin an independent life.

In the photo: Paraguayan anaconda in the zoo.

Anaconda Deschauensea

Anaconda Deshauenseya is a little-described species, it is only indicated that it lives in the north-west of Brazil. I did not find a photo of this type of anaconda.

Eunectes beniensis

Eunectes beniensis is another little-described anaconda species. In 2002, German herpetologist Lutz Dirksen first described it.

This species shares so many similarities with the Paraguayan anaconda that its future status as a distinct species is unclear and in doubt.

Anaconda Eunectes beniensis is known in Bolivia, it lives mainly in marshy places. These snakes are found only in relatively untouched and sparsely populated regions, which are not so few in Bolivia and they cover a vast territory. The species is of minimal concern, but these snakes are hunted for their meat, skin, and blubber. It also attacks small domestic animals such as dogs or cats, chickens and other birds, and for the peasants this is a sufficient reason to kill the snake. With all this special measures, the authorities of Bolivia have not yet taken special measures to protect this species, although there are plans to create a reserve "Lakes of Rogaguado" to preserve the biosystems of the swamps.

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Leaving the city of Antioch for Cartagena, when we settled it, Captain Jorge Robledo and others found so many fish that we killed with sticks what we would like to catch ... In addition, very large snakes are found in the thickets. I want to tell and narrate something that is authentically known, although I did not see it [himself], but there were many contemporaries who were trustworthy, and this is what it is: when, on the orders of the licentiate of Santa Cruz, Lieutenant Juan Creciano passed along this road in search of Licentiate Juan de Vadillo, leading with him some Spaniards, among whom were a certain Manuel de Peralta, Pedro de Barros, and Pedro Shimon, they stumbled upon a snake or snake, so large that it was 20 feet long, and very fat. His head is light red, and fearsome green eyes, and since he saw them, he wanted to go towards them, but Pedro Shimon inflicted such a wound on him with a spear that even though he came into an [indescribable] rage, [still ] died. And they found in his belly a whole fawn like he was when he ate it; I will say [also] that some hungry Spaniards began to eat the deer and even part of the snake.

Appearance

Anaconda is the most massive snake of the modern world fauna. The main body color of the anaconda is grayish-green with two rows of large brown spots of a rounded or oblong shape, alternating in a checkerboard pattern. On the sides of the body there is a row yellow spots smaller, surrounded by black rings. This coloring effectively hides the snake when it lurks in still water covered with brown leaves and tufts of algae. Anaconda is not poisonous - its saliva is completely harmless to humans, although teeth wounds can be quite painful.

Dimensions

There is a lot of information about anacondas over 6 meters long, but none of this kind of observation is reliable. Thus, the famous Swedish naturalist Georg Dahl in his book “Wild Roads” (1969; Russian translation 1972) tells about his capture of an 8.43 m long anaconda on the Guayabero River in the jungles of Colombia. Another Swedish naturalist, Rolf Blomberg, in his book Giant Serpents and Terrible Lizards, referring to the data of Clifford Pope, mentions a specimen of an anaconda 28 feet long, that is, 8.54 m. It even describes the case of capturing an anaconda 11 m 43 cm long in 1944 in Colombia. The length of the largest anacondas ever described in the literature (P. Fawcett) is indicated at 62 feet (18.59 meters) and 80 feet (24.38 meters), which once again confirms the inconsistency of this kind of assertion.

According to official data, the largest of the female anacondas caught in Venezuela reached 5.21 meters in length and weighed 97.5 kg, despite the fact that at least 780 specimens caught passed through the hands of scientists. At the same time, the smallest individual capable of reproduction was only 2.1 m, excluding the tail. The size of the anacondas was the subject of a detailed study, which concluded that the maximum size that the largest anacondas can reach will be approximately 6.7 m - this is somewhat higher than the sizes of the largest samples that fell into the hands of scientists, but incomparable with unreliable and certainly greatly exaggerated data from the past.

Adult anacondas, as a rule, do not exceed 5 meters in length. Females are significantly larger and heavier than males - their length usually approaches 4.6 m, while males reach a length of about 3 m on average. Although the anaconda is somewhat shorter than some pythons, especially the reticulated python, it is much more massive: most adult female anacondas 4.5 m long will be comparable in weight to extremely large reticulated pythons about 7 m long. Adult weights are reported to typically range from 30 to 70 kg. Thus, the anaconda is the heaviest snake in the world fauna and the second largest scaly snake, somewhat inferior in weight only to the Komodo monitor lizard.

Range and conservation problem

Due to the inaccessibility of anaconda habitats, it is difficult for scientists to estimate its numbers and follow the dynamics of the population. At least in the International Red Book, the conservation status of the anaconda is listed in the “threat not assessed” category ( English Not Evaluated, NE) - due to lack of data. But in general, apparently, the anaconda can still be considered out of danger. There are many anacondas in the zoos of the world, but they take root in captivity quite difficult. The maximum life span of an anaconda in a terrarium is 28 years, but these snakes usually live 5-6 years in captivity.

Lifestyle

Anaconda leads an almost completely aquatic lifestyle. It keeps in quiet, slow-flowing branches of rivers, backwaters, oxbow lakes and lakes of the Amazon and Orinoco basins.

In such reservoirs, the snake lies in wait for prey. She never crawls far from the water, although she often crawls ashore and basks in the sun, sometimes climbing onto the lower branches of trees. Anaconda swims and dives perfectly and can stay under water for a long time, while its nostrils are closed with special valves.

When the reservoir dries up, the anaconda crawls into another or descends downstream of the river. During the dry period, which occurs in some habitats of the anaconda, the snake burrows into the bottom silt and falls into a stupor, in which it remains until the rains resume.

Nutrition

The anaconda feeds on various mammals, birds and reptiles, lying in wait for them near the water. She usually catches agoutis, waterfowl, iguanas, and other small animals. Less commonly, larger individuals are capable of attacking peccaries, capybaras, and caimans, but such large prey is not a frequent component of the diet. For lunch, anacondas often come across turtles, tegus, as well as snakes - at least once in the zoo, an anaconda strangled and ate a 2.5-meter python. Fish occupies a much smaller place in the diet of the anaconda than the four-legged inhabitants of the selva. Like all boas, the anaconda motionlessly waits for prey, lying in one place, and when it approaches, it grabs it with a lightning throw and strangles it, wrapping it with body rings (contrary to popular belief, the anaconda, like other boas, does not crush the victim and does not break her bones, but compresses it and does not allow it to breathe, as a result of which it dies from suffocation). Anaconda swallows prey whole, while greatly stretching the mouth and throat. In São Paulo, Brazil, a 4.2 meter long, 94 kg anaconda killed and swallowed a 42 kg female cougar, 4 or 5 years old, sustaining fatal injuries in the process. Frequent cases of cannibalism have been noted in anacondas.

Anaconda head

Predation

Adult female anacondas have practically no enemies in nature; at times, however, they may fall prey to cougars, jaguars, giant otters, Orinoc crocodiles, and black caimans. Most often, anacondas are predated by crocodile caimans, with which they occupy similar biotopes. Caimans usually prey on cubs, as well as adult males weakened after mating, but in two recorded cases, large (about 2 meters) males are prey crocodile caimans became adult female anacondas about 5 meters long.

Subspecies

• Eunectes murinus murinus- type subspecies, lives in the Amazon basin within Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador and Peru
• Eunectes murinus gigas- common in northern Colombia, Venezuela, French Guiana and Trinidad and Tobago.

These two subspecies were described a very long time ago - in 1758 and 1801, respectively. They were distinguished by color details and average sizes, which are slightly larger in the second subspecies.

The giant anaconda is not currently thought to form subspecies.

legends about anaconda

Often in the descriptions of various "eyewitnesses" information is given about anacondas of monstrous length. It was not only dilettantes who sinned with this information. The famous British traveler in South America P. Fawcett wrote about snakes of incredible size, one of which he allegedly shot with his own hand:

“We went ashore and cautiously approached the snake ... As accurately as possible, we measured its length: in that part of the body that protrudes from the water, it turned out forty-five feet and another seventeen feet were in the water, which together was sixty-two feet.

Her body was not thick with such a colossal length - no more than twelve inches ... Such large specimens as this one are rare, but the tracks they leave in the marshes are sometimes six feet wide and testify in favor of those Indians who claim that anacondas sometimes reach incredible sizes, so that the specimen I shot should look just like a dwarf next to them! .. I was told about a snake killed on the Paraguay River and exceeding eighty feet in length! (62 feet = 18.9 m; 80 feet = 24.4 m; 12 inches = 30.5 cm)

Colonel Percy Fawcett (1867-1925), famous connoisseur South America, who nevertheless left dubious descriptions of the anaconda

Now, without exception, all such stories are fiction (especially since Colonel Fawcett cited many other undeniably false information in his notes). Even mentioned many times in various sources a specimen 11.43 m long was not documented according to all the rules and is considered unreliable by most experts, especially considering the fact that the mass of this snake is indicated in the region of 200 kg, while an animal of this size should have weighed a little less than a ton. In general, female anacondas do not often grow larger than 4 meters. It is very significant that at the beginning of the 20th century in the United States, twice - once by President Theodore Roosevelt and the second time - by the New York Zoological Society, a prize of $5,000 was announced for any snake longer than 30 feet (a little more than 9 m), but and remained unclaimed.

A value greater than 8 meters for a snake is meaningless, at least from a purely biological point of view. Despite the fact that the anaconda occupies a slightly different ecological niche, even a 6-7-meter snake could overcome almost any herbivorous animal of the selva. Too much growth will be energetically unjustified - in the conditions of a tropical rain forest relatively poor in large animals, it is excessively big snake it simply will not feed itself and it will be more difficult for it to hide from large predators.

Just as fantastic are stories about the hypnotic gaze of the anaconda, which allegedly paralyzes the victim, or about its poisonous breath, which has a detrimental effect on small animals. The same P. Fossett, for example, wrote:

“... a sharp fetid breath emanated from her; they say it has a stunning effect: the smell first attracts, and then paralyzes the victim.

Nothing like this modern science, including taking into account the extensive experience of keeping anacondas in zoos, does not recognize. However, the fact that the anaconda emits a strong bad smell, is reliable.

Anaconda and man

Anacondas are often found near settlements. Domestic animals - pigs, dogs, chickens, etc. - often become the prey of this snake. But the danger of the anaconda to humans, apparently, is greatly exaggerated. Single attacks on people are made by the anaconda, apparently by mistake, when the snake sees only part of the human body under water, or if it seems to her that they want to attack her or take away her prey. The only reliable case - the death of a 13-year-old Indian boy swallowed by an anaconda - should be considered the rarest exception. On the contrary, the anaconda itself often becomes the prey of the natives. The meat of this snake is valued by many Indian tribes; They say that it is very good, slightly sweet in taste. Anaconda skin is used for various crafts.

Notes

1. Anaconda // Great Soviet Encyclopedia: [in 30 volumes] / ch. ed. A. M. Prokhorov. - 3rd ed. - M.: Soviet Encyclopedia, 1969-1978. (Retrieved August 17, 2011)
2. // Encyclopedic Dictionary of Brockhaus and Efron: in 86 volumes (82 volumes and 4 additional). - St. Petersburg. , 1890-1907.
3. Zenkevich L. A. Animal life. Vertebrates. Vol. 4, part 2: Amphibians, Reptiles. - M.: Enlightenment, 1969. - 487 p., p. 339.

giant anaconda called a water boa poisonous snake. The snake gets its name from the Tamil word that comes with the word anaconda, means "killer of elephants", but in Latin the translation is "good swimmer". Etymologists believe that rattlesnake published similar sounds and that's why she was called that. Where does such a snake live, what does it eat and how long does it live? We will talk about this.

Where does the anaconda live

The length of a large snake is more than 5 meters, weight 97 kg and more. Scientists have found that anaconda 9 to 11 meters long is a myth, since its length does not exceed 6.5 meters. The body of the snake is divided into a tail and a huge body with 435 vertebrae. Her ribs are mobile and allow you to swallow very big booty. Scull anacondas consists of movable bones interconnected by ligaments. It is thanks to this feature that it opens its mouth wide and swallows the prey whole. Highly placed eyes and nostrils allow you to breathe underwater. Its eyes allow it to quickly track prey rather than focus, thanks to its transparent scales. Teeth giant anaconda, do not contain poison, although they are sharp and long, so the bite for a person is not deadly. An important organ of the snake is the tongue, which is responsible for taste and smell. The skin of the anaconda is dry and dense, and all because it does not have mucous glands. But it is shiny, thanks to the scales. Her skin color is gray-green with yellow and olive tints, and black spots along her spine allow her to disguise herself.

Where does the giant anaconda live?

As giant anaconda spends most of its life in the water and is an excellent swimmer, she lives in quiet river beds, in swamps and in river backwaters. She occasionally crawls ashore and climbs trees. From the drought anaconda buries itself in the mud and waits for the rains. You can meet such a snake throughout South America, in Brazil, in Peru, Guiana, Paraguay, Guyana, Ecuador, Venezuela, Colombia, Bolivia.

How long does an anaconda live

Anaconda can grow all life cycle, at an early stage intensively, then the process slows down. Record how long you live giant Anaconda, failed. It is known that 5-6 years life span of a snake on average, but also a 28 year old snake was found. How long this monster can live, only God knows.

ANACONDA NUTRITION, INTERESTING FACTS ABOUT ANACONDA

What does anaconda eat

Giant anaconda hunt in the water or on the shore. She motionlessly waits for prey, then quite sharply pounces and wraps herself around the victim, strangling. Her victim dies of asphyxiation, not broken bones. Sometimes, anaconda grabs prey with teeth and swallows. Eats turtles, swimming birds, iguanas, lizards, capybaras, bakers, capybaras, agoutis, caimans, Tupinanbis and even large snakes. Prey become and pets like cats, dogs, and chickens. Anaconda long time may be without food, because the food is digested for several weeks.

People were afraid anacondas and considered her a bloodthirsty snake, in fact, only one attack was recorded on a teenage boy from an Indian tribe.

People promised big money for giant anaconda 9 meters, but its length is not more than 6 meters 70 cm.

In America, anaconda was the best and most terrible character for films.

Anaconda not able to paralyze the victim with a glance! They can only enter into a stupor from their wild smell.

VIDEO: ABOUT ANACONDAS

IN THIS VIDEO YOU WILL SEE HOW THE GIANT ANACONDAS LOOK AND LEARN A LOT OF INTERESTING

Almost 10 meters long and under three centners in weight. All this is the largest anaconda snake. The photos and videos on our website will show you that, for the most part, fear has big eyes. This snake is not such a monster.

Anaconda - the largest snake in the world Anaconda (Eunectes) - the heaviest snake in the world, and a "good swimmer".

Belongs to the class of reptiles, scaly order, family - boas, genus - anaconda. This is a reptile creature that has no legs. It is believed that the predecessors of snakes were primitive lizards, which appeared eighty million years ago. In the period of evolution, they lost limbs. Apparently, that's why they are considered relatives. The main difference between snakes is the ability to displace the lower jaw so that it becomes possible to swallow objects whose size is much larger than their head.

9 meters long, 250 kilograms. Meet the anaconda. The world's largest snake.

Fiction and reality

Thank you Hollywood and Jennifer Lopez. Today famous movie Probably only a very lazy person did not watch "Anaconda". In that film, the snake is represented by a terrible man-eating monster. In fact, this is very far from reality. As well as attacking a person from the top of the trees. Anacondas are too heavy for such hunting.

There are 4 types of anacondas.

• (Eunectes beniensis) - Bolivia
• (Eunectes deschauenseei) - Brazil
• Green anaconda (Eunectes murinus) - Amazon and Orinoco river basins
• (Eunectes notaeus) - Argentina and Paraguay.

What does Eunectes stand for?

Eunectes is Greek for "good swimmer".

Anacondas live exclusively in South America:

• Argentina
• Bolivia
• Brazil
• Ecuador
• Paraguay
• Venezuela
• Trinidad

The amazing size of this snake

Anaconda is considered the most big snake worldwide. The average length of her body can reach 10 m. The weight of these creeps is up to 250 kg. The parameters of the largest anaconda that was caught by a man were: 11 m 43 cm.

What is an anaconda?

Her body is painted brownish-green with brownish spots. Anacondas live in the rainforests of the American South. They are comfortable in moist riverine forests and swamps, where the most best places to have a great hunt. The anaconda boa spends most of its time in water bodies, camouflaging itself in gray-green waters where brown leaves and algae float. In such places, the snake is hardly noticeable and, hiding, awaits a victim going to a watering hole.

Looks like quite a cute face

Anaconda is absolutely non-venomous snake. Its main weapon is the ability to choke prey by wrapping itself around it in numerous rings. She grabs the prey sharp teeth, twists around her with his body, pulling chest animal until it stops breathing. After this procedure, the anaconda turns the prey with its head towards itself and swallows it, "putting on" the victim's carcass in the form of a stocking.

Anacondas have another feature. Due to the presence of nasal valves on the muzzle, it can dive under water. The snake preys on various medium-sized ungulates, and also feeds on waterfowl, pets that raided the watering hole.

Anaconda - classification.

• Suborder: Snakes
• Family: pseudopods
• Subfamily: boas
• Type: Eunectes

The most important difference between the anaconda and the boas is that it is a viviparous snake!

Surely you have heard horror stories about anacondas more than once or watched terrifying footage from films. But in reality, these cases are extremely rare. The anaconda does not attack people because it knows that prey of this size can be too tough for it. However, there are documents in which there are attested cases of a teenager being killed by a snake. Amazon hunters, as soon as they see an anaconda, do not lose the opportunity to kill it.

International scientific name

Eunectes murinus (Linnaeus, 1758)

Systematics on Wikispecies

Images at Wikimedia Commons

ITIS NCBI EOL

Leaving the city of Antioch for Cartagena, when we settled it, Captain Jorge Robledo and others found so many fish that we killed with sticks what we would like to catch ... In addition, very large snakes are found in the thickets. I want to tell and tell about something authentically known, although I did not see it [himself], but there were many contemporaries who were trustworthy, and this is what it is: when, on the orders of the licentiate of St. Cruz, Lieutenant Juan Creciano passed along this road in search of Licentiate Juan de Vadillo, leading with him some Spaniards, among whom were a certain Manuel de Peralta, Pedro de Barros, and Pedro Shimon, they stumbled upon a snake or snake, so large that it was 20 feet long, and very fat. His head is light red, and fearsome green eyes, and since he saw them, he wanted to go towards them, but Pedro Shimon inflicted such a wound on him with a spear that even though he went into [indescribable] rage, [still ] died. And they found in his belly a whole fawn [tapir?], as he was when he ate it; I will say [also] that some hungry Spaniards began to eat the deer and even part of the snake.

Cieza de Leon, Pedro. Chronicle of Peru. Part one. Chapter IX.

Appearance

Anaconda is the largest modern snake. Its average length is 5-6 meters, and specimens of 8-9 meters are often found. A uniquely measured specimen from eastern Colombia measured 11.43 m in length (however, this specimen could not be preserved). Currently, the largest known giant anaconda is about 9 meters long and weighs about 130 kg, it is kept by the New York Zoological Society.

The main body color of the anaconda is grayish-green with two rows of large brown spots of a rounded or oblong shape, alternating in a checkerboard pattern. On the sides of the body there is a row of yellow spots of a smaller size, surrounded by black rings. This coloring effectively hides the snake when it lurks in still water covered with brown leaves and tufts of algae.

Anaconda is not poisonous. Females are much larger and stronger than males.

Range and conservation problem

Due to the inaccessibility of anaconda habitats, it is difficult for scientists to estimate its numbers and follow the dynamics of the population. At least in the International Red Book, the conservation status of the anaconda is listed in the “threat not assessed” category ( English Not Evaluated, NE) - due to lack of data. But in general, apparently, the anaconda can still be considered out of danger. There are many anacondas in the zoos of the world, but they take root in captivity quite difficult. The maximum life span of an anaconda in a terrarium is 28 years, but these snakes usually live 5-6 years in captivity.

Lifestyle

Anaconda leads an almost completely aquatic lifestyle. It keeps in quiet, slow-flowing branches of rivers, backwaters, oxbow lakes and lakes of the Amazon and Orinoco basins.

In such reservoirs, the snake lies in wait for prey. She never crawls far from the water, although she often crawls ashore and basks in the sun, sometimes climbing onto the lower branches of trees. Anaconda swims and dives perfectly and can stay under water for a long time, while its nostrils are closed with special valves.

When the reservoir dries up, the anaconda crawls into another or descends downstream of the river. During the dry period, which occurs in some habitats of the anaconda, the snake burrows into the bottom silt and falls into a stupor, in which it remains until the rains resume.

Frequent cases of cannibalism have been noted in anacondas.

Most time anacondas are kept singly, but gather in groups during the mating season, which is timed to coincide with the start of the rains and falls in the Amazon in April-May. During this period, males find females along the odorous trail on the ground, guided by the smell of pheromones emitted by the female. It is believed that anacondas release substances that attract a partner into the air, but this issue requires further research. During the mating period, one can observe how several highly excited males dart around one calmly lying female. Like many other snakes, anacondas at the same time stray into a ball of several intertwined individuals. When mating, the male coils around the body of the female, using the rudiments of the hind limbs for clutching (as all prolegs do). During this ritual, a characteristic grinding sound is heard.

The female bears offspring for 6-7 months. During gestation, she loses a lot of weight, often losing weight by almost half. Anaconda is ovoviviparous. The female brings from 28 to 42 serpents (apparently, their number can reach up to 100) 50-80 cm long, but occasionally can lay eggs.

An adult anaconda has practically no enemies in nature; occasionally, however, not very large anacondas are eaten by a jaguar or large caimans. Juveniles in the mass die from a variety of predators.

Subspecies

• Eunectes murinus murinus- type subspecies, lives in the Amazon basin within Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador and Peru
• Eunectes murinus gigas- common in northern Colombia, Venezuela, French Guiana and Trinidad and Tobago.

These two subspecies were described long ago - in 1758 and 1801, respectively. They were distinguished by color details and average sizes, which are slightly larger in the second subspecies.

It is currently believed that the giant anaconda does not form subspecies.

Other species of the genus Eunectes

southern anaconda

In the genus of anacondas, 3 more species of snakes are known that are closely related to the common anaconda:

• South, or Paraguayan, also known as yellow anaconda (Eunectes notaeus), native to Paraguay, southern Bolivia, and northern Argentina.

This snake is extremely similar in lifestyle to the common anaconda, but much smaller in size - its length does not exceed 3 m. The main difference in its color is the absence of bright eyes in the side spots. The southern anaconda is rather small in number, and therefore it rarely enters zoos. In captivity, she eats fish and small animals. As for reproduction, one case is known in captivity, when a female, 9 months after mating, brought 8 kites 55-60 cm long.

• Eunectes deschauenseei, found in the northeast of Brazil and Guyana (scientifically described with emphasis in separate view in 1936). The color of this snake is dark spotted, reticulated.

Eunectes deschauenseei

• Eunectes beniensis- opened quite recently, in 2002, in the upper reaches of the Beni River. Poorly studied.

legends about anaconda

Often in the descriptions of various "eyewitnesses" information is given about anacondas of monstrous length. It was not only dilettantes who sinned with this information. The famous British traveler in South America P. Fawcett wrote about snakes of incredible size, one of which he allegedly shot with his own hand:

“We went ashore and cautiously approached the snake ... As accurately as possible, we measured its length: in that part of the body that protrudes from the water, it turned out forty-five feet and another seventeen feet were in the water, which together was sixty-two feet. Her body was not thick with such a colossal length - no more than twelve inches ... Such large specimens as this one are rare, but the tracks they leave in the marshes are sometimes six feet wide and testify in favor of those Indians who claim that anacondas sometimes reach incredible sizes, so that the specimen I shot should look just like a dwarf next to them! .. I was told about a snake killed on the Paraguay River and exceeding eighty feet in length! (62 feet = 18.9 m; 80 feet = 24.4 m; 12 inches = 30.5 cm)

Colonel Percy Fawcett (1867-1925), noted South American scholar who nonetheless left dubious descriptions of the anaconda

Now, without exception, all such stories are fiction (especially since Colonel Fawcett cited many other undeniably false information in his notes). Strictly speaking, even the aforementioned 11.43 m long specimen was not fully documented, and in any case, it was apparently unique in length. It is very significant that at the beginning of the 20th century in the United States, twice - once by President Theodore Roosevelt and the second time - by the New York Zoological Society, a prize of $ 5 thousand was announced for an anaconda longer than 30 feet (slightly more than 9 m), but so remained unclaimed.

A value greater than 12 meters for a snake is meaningless, at least from a purely biological point of view. Even a 7-8-meter anaconda is already guaranteed to overcome any beast of the selva. Too much growth will be energetically unjustified - in the conditions of a tropical rain forest relatively poor in large animals, an excessively large snake simply cannot feed itself.

Just as fantastic are stories about the hypnotic gaze of the anaconda, which allegedly paralyzes the victim, or about its poisonous breath, which has a detrimental effect on small animals. The same P. Fossett, for example, wrote:

“... a sharp fetid breath emanated from her; they say it has a stunning effect: the smell first attracts, and then paralyzes the victim.

Modern science does not recognize anything like this, including taking into account the extensive experience of keeping anacondas in zoos. However, the fact is that a strong unpleasant odor comes from the anaconda.

Anaconda and man

Anacondas are often found near settlements. Domestic animals - pigs, dogs, chickens, etc. - often become the prey of this snake. But the danger of the anaconda to humans, apparently, is greatly exaggerated. Single attacks on people are made by the anaconda, apparently by mistake, when the snake sees only part of the human body under water, or if it seems to her that they want to attack her or take away her prey. The only reliable case - the death of a 13-year-old Indian boy swallowed by an anaconda - should be considered the rarest exception. Another, recent, case of the death of an adult is hardly reliable. On the contrary, the anaconda itself often becomes the prey of the natives. The meat of this snake is valued by many Indian tribes; They say that it is very good, slightly sweet in taste. Anaconda skin is used for various crafts.

Notes

1. Anaconda- article from the Great Soviet Encyclopedia (Retrieved August 17, 2011)
2. // Encyclopedic Dictionary of Brockhaus and Efron: In 86 volumes (82 volumes and 4 additional) - St. Petersburg. , 1890-1907.
3. Zenkevich L. A. Animal life. Vertebrates. Vol. 4, part 2: Amphibians, Reptiles. - M.: Enlightenment, 1969. - 487 p., p. 339.
4. Ananyeva N. B., Bor L. Ya., Darevsky I. S., Orlov N. L. Five-language dictionary of animal names. Amphibians and reptiles. Latin, Russian, English, German, French. / under the general editorship of acad. V. E. Sokolova - M .: Rus.yaz., 1988. - S. 275. - 10,500 copies. - .
5. Kudryavtsev S. V., Frolov V. E., Korolev A. V. Terrarium and its inhabitants (review of species and keeping in captivity). / Ed. W. E. Flint. - M.: timber industry, 1991. - S. 317. - 349 p. - ISBN 5-7120-018-2
6. Systematic list of vertebrates in zoological collections as of 01.01.2011 // Information collection Eurasian Regional Association of Zoos and Aquariums. Issue. 30. Interved. collection. scientific and scientific method. tr. - M.: Moscow Zoo, 2011. - S. 304. - 570 p. - UDC :59.006 -
7. Darevsky I. S., Orlov N. L. Rare and endangered animals. Amphibians and reptiles / ed. V. E. Sokolova - M .: Higher. school, 1988. - S. 338. - 100,000 copies. - .
8. "Biological Encyclopedic Dictionary." Ch. ed. M. S. Gilyarov; Editorial: A. A. Babaev, G. G. Vinberg, G. A. Zavarzin and others - 2nd ed., corrected. - M.: Sov. Encyclopedia, 1986. - P.25.
9. Pedro Cieza de Leon. Chronicle of Peru. Part one. . www.bloknot.info (A. Skromnitsky) (July 24, 2008). Archived from the original on August 21, 2011. Retrieved September 22, 2010.