Ancient, gargantuan snakes ate crocs for breakfast

The remains of the world's biggest snakes were discovered near the equator and scientists say the finding will shed new light on how ecosystems respond to climate change.

In total, 28 individual snakes were found in northeastern Colombia's Cerrejon open-pit mine. The largest eight of the 28 snakes would have weighed about 2,500 pounds and were between 12 to 15 metres in length.

In comparison, the largest snakes alive today are the green anacondas, which measure about 7.5 metres long and the reticulated pythons, which measure about nine metres long.

Paleontologists have named the snake Titanoboa cerrejonensis, which means titanic boa from Cerrejon -- one of the world's largest open-pit coal mines.