Paleontologists Debajit Datta and Sunil Bajpai of the Indian Institute of Technology Roorkee identified a massive prehistoric snake species from fossilized remains recovered at the Panandhro Lignite Mine in Kutch, Gujarat. The discovery, formally described in 2024 in Scientific Reports, dates to the Middle Eocene period approximately 47 million years ago, when Earth’s climate was substantially warmer than present conditions. The species was named Vasuki indicus in reference to a mythical serpent from Hindu tradition and the geographic location where the remains were found.
The paleontologists examined 27 fossilized vertebrae from what appears to have been a fully mature individual. Although a complete skeleton was not recovered, the preserved backbone provided crucial data for estimating the animal’s proportions. Individual vertebrae measured between 37.5 and 62.7 millimeters in length and between 62.4 and 111.4 millimeters in width, with an unusually broad shape suggesting a thick, cylindrical body. Using comparative analysis with modern snakes of known dimensions, researchers produced size estimates ranging from 10.9 to 15.2 meters, placing Vasuki among the largest snakes identified in the fossil record and comparable to Titanoboa, the giant Colombian snake from approximately 60 million years ago thought to have reached around 13 meters.
The anatomical structure of Vasuki’s backbone suggests the snake moved relatively slowly and likely relied on ambush hunting strategies rather than active pursuit. Its body composition would have been suited for constriction-based predation similar to modern anacondas and pythons. The snake’s anatomy also indicates it may have spent considerable time in terrestrial or shallow wetland environments rather than exclusively aquatic habitats, and the ancient landscape featured marshes and swamps appropriate for such a predator.
Vasuki represented a distinct evolutionary lineage within Madtsoiidae, an extinct snake family that persisted for approximately 100 million years across multiple continents including India, Africa, Europe, South America, and Australia. The discovery suggests that giant madtsoiid snakes originated on the Indian subcontinent before dispersing to other regions as geographic connections shifted during the collision of India with Asia around 50 million years ago. Subsequent research published in 2025 identified additional fossil snakes from Eocene deposits in western India, revealing a diverse ancient reptile community alongside Vasuki.
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