They discovered the oldest python fossil …

German scientists have discovered oldest known fossils of a kind of piton, about 47 million years old, in the “Grube Messel” fossil deposit. The age of the snake was estimated by researchers at the Senckenberg Society for Nature Research in Frankfurt and the University of Sao Paulo in Brazil.

The Senckenberg Society indicated in an article that this discovery of the fossilized skeleton, nearly a meter long, and practically completely preserved, suggests the origin of giant snakes in Europe.

Unlike today, he noted, the ancient python lived in the same ecosystem with its anatomically very similar parent, the boa. Therefore, he asserted, reflect on the thesis according to which the two families of snakes competed.

“At the time of the Eocene, about 47 million years ago, these snakes already existed in Europe. Our analyzes show that they also developed here,” said Frankfurt paleontologist Krister Smith.

This new type of python was called “Messelopython freyi”, according to the place of discovery and paleontologist Eberhard Frey of the National Museum of Natural Sciences in Karlsruhe.

Not by chance, Frey receives the nickname “Dino” and is known around the world for the rigor of his studies on fossil reptiles. The Senckenberg company stated that this name is intended to honor his achievements in the field of paleontology.

Pythons, which are currently up to six meters in length, are among the largest snakes in the world, living mainly in Africa, South and Southeast Asia, as well as Australia.

The “Grube Messel”, an area called “Window on Prehistory” by the German Commission for Unesco, has been a World Heritage site for 25 years.

Discoveries embedded and preserved in oil shales show what the world looked like millions of years ago in the then tropical region.

With tens of thousands of fossils discovered to date, scientists can paint a relatively accurate picture of life and climate at the time.