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Dino-Eating Snake Makes Hiss-tory

Serpent preyed on titanosaur babies

By Jane Yager,  Newser Staff

Posted Mar 3, 2010 5:06 AM CST | Updated Mar 3, 2010 6:00 AM CST

(Newser) – Hundred-ton dinosaurs may have been just as scared of snakes as humans are. The recent discovery of a fossilized snake wrapped around a baby titanosaur offers the first-ever direct evidence that prehistoric snakes fed on dinosaur hatchlings. Researchers believe the snake was attacking a baby dinosaur as it hatched; a natural disaster then overcame them, freezing the scene for perpetuity.

"It was such a thrill to discover such a portentous moment frozen in time," said the scientist who found the fossil in India. The snake and its prey were found among a fossilized dinosaur nest containing three other eggs. The dinosaur-eating snake would have been one of very few predators that preyed on giant dinosaurs like the plant-eating titanosaur.

A snake moves in for the kill against a titanosaur hatchling in this reconstruction.
A snake moves in for the kill against a titanosaur hatchling in this reconstruction.   (India Geological Society)
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COMMENTS
Showing 3 of 10 comments
RustytheZippergirl
Mar 4, 2010 2:41 AM CST
Run Barney Run!
Spudsy
Mar 3, 2010 8:34 PM CST
The nerd in me Googled titanosaur. Dig this, Bruhathkayosaurus was a titanosaur and was as long as 130 ft. That is basically a 13 story building walking at you! 220 tons. Lotta dino meat right there.
budee
Mar 3, 2010 2:59 PM CST
(67-Million-Year-Old Fossil Snake Found Eating Baby Dinosaurs)
67 million years ago? In your dreams. Fantasy personified. On an equal with Al Gores Global warming.
 

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