Fossils from northeastern Colombia reveal the biggest snake ever discovered: a behemoth that stretched 42 to 45 feet long, reaching more than
2,500 pounds. The discoverers of the snake named it Titanoboa cerrejonensis, "titanic boa from Cerrejon," the region where it was found. Among living snake species, the record holder is an individual python measured at about 30 feet long, which is some 12 to 15 feet shorter than typical Titanoboas, said study co-author Jonathan Bloch. The accompanying photograph (from Associated Press) shows a titanoboa vertebra compared to a vertebra from an adult green anaconda.Scientists expect to find many more fascinating fossils as they continue to excavate the area - at 60 million years old, it is being hailed as the most ancient pet shop yet discovered anywhere in the world.
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News from the world of treasure-hunting:
Associated Press
TAMPA, Fla. – Odyssey, a Florida-based, publicly traded corporation engaged in deep-sea exploration, says it has discovered the wreck of H.M.S. Victory, a legendary British man-of-war that sank in the English Channel 264 years ago.
This is the same company credited with the discovery of the Spanish galleon, Nuestra Señora de las Mercedes y las Animas. Odyssey recovered 17 tons of silver coins from this wreck. Less lucrative, but of great interest to some researchers, was Odyssey's discovery of a wrecked 1974 Dodge Monaco, known as Nuestra Señora de Aceleración Perpetua (or sometimes as La Madre de Aceleración Perpetua), containing a few junk-food wrappers, a half-empty pack of cigarettes, a pair of broken, very dark, sunglasses, and a scrap of paper on which can just be made out a single, cryptic word - "Elwood."
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And finally, lots of news from the strange world of dumb criminals:
Associated Press
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. - Colorado police say a man used a "bat'leth," a sword modeled after one on the television show "Star Trek," to demand money from two convenience stores. Investigators say the man took an unknown amount of cash from a 7-Eleven store Wednesday but left empty-handed when he tried to rob another store about 25 minutes later.
Early reports indicate the clerk at the second store repelled the would-be robber by drawing his own phaser pistol, but new evidence suggests he simply talked his way out of the situation. Sources close to the investigation say that the man had no answer for the clerk's assertion, "Damn it, Jim, I'm a clerk, not a Klingon." The Klingon Empire has decried the incident, declaring the assailant "without honor, and worthy only of dismemberment and use as targ fodder."
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Associated Press
CLEVELAND - Police in Cleveland say a man called 911 because he felt he was in danger - then asked the dispatcher to hold on while he made a drug deal. The dispatcher then overheard the man negotiating the sale of some heroin, and sent police to his location. Alejandro Melendez was found with cocaine in his possession and was placed under arrest.
And that's a story that needs no commentary other than Bill Engvall's standard, "Here's your sign."
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Associated Press
SYDNEY - An Australian traveler was caught with two live pigeons stuffed in his pants following a trip to the Middle East, customs officials said Tuesday.
The customs agent who made the arrest reportedly asked the man, "Is that a pigeon in your pants, or are you just flappy to see me?"
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