A giant prehistoric snake longer than a school bus slithered around what is now India 47 million years ago, according to new research. The extinct snake may have been one of the largest to have ever lived, dwarfing present-day anacondas and pythons that can grow to about 6 meters (20 feet). The colossal creature’s scientific name is Vasuki indicus, after the mythical serpent around the neck of Hindu deity Lord Shiva and the country of its discovery. The snake was likely a slow-moving, ambush predator that subdued its prey by constriction or squeezing them to death, according to the study, which appeared Thursday in the journal Scientific Reports. Analysis of giant vertebrae fossils The report’s two authors, based at the Indian Institute of Technology Roorkee in the state of Uttarakhand, analyzed 27 fossilized vertebrae — some still connected to one another — that were uncovered in 2005 at a coal…
