The green anaconda is the largest snake in the world.
The green anaconda is the largest snake in the world.
Photograph by Colette6, Dreamstime

Anaconda

The green anaconda is the largest snake in the world, when both weight and length are considered. It can reach a length of 30 feet (9 meters) and weigh up to 550 pounds (227 kilograms). To picture how big that is, if about five ten-year-olds lie down head to foot, they'd be about the length of this huge snake.

Common Name:
Green Anaconda
Scientific Name:
Eunectes murinus
Type:
Reptiles
Diet:
Carnivore
Group Name:
Bed, knot
Average Life Span In The Wild:
10 years
Size:
20 to 30 feet
Weight:
Up to 550 pounds

The green anaconda is a member of a family of snakes called constrictors. Constrictors are not venomous snakes. They don't kill prey by delivering venom through a bite. Instead, constrictors wrap their bodies around their prey and squeeze until it stops breathing.

The giant snake opens its mouth wide enough to swallow its victim—sometimes fish or caiman (relatives of crocodiles) and even jaguars and small deer.

Anaconda jaws are held together with stretchy ligaments so they can open wide enough to swallow prey whole.

And it'd take about 11 kids to weigh as much as one anaconda.