Have you ever wondered what it would be like if Cryptids and Mythological creatures were real? What would that be like? How would they affect the environment? How would they be classified? Find out in this encyclopedia that mysteriously appeared fro...
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Animal Class: Reptile
Diet: Carnivorous
Originally classified as a giant subspecies of Anaconda, Yacumama were recently discovered to actually be their own species.
Yacumama are the longest extant species of snake. With the largest one on record growing to be 41.8 feet. They are also the heaviest extant species of snake. With the heaviest one on record being 2,260 pounds.
While they are a constrictor, the spikes on their head and neck actually do have a small amount of venom in them. However, all it seems to be capable of doing is causing a small paralysis effect that quickly wears off. It is believed to have evolved to help stop particularly strong prey from struggling in the snake's coils.
They are one of the rarest species of Snake in the world with only an estimated number of 31 left in the wild.
Despite what the previous fact suggests, Yacumama have an extremely large range. With individuals scattered throughout the Amazon River Basin of Peru, Brazil, and Colombia. However, this distance, alongside Climate Change and habitat destruction, is what is attributing to their decreasing numbers as mating is nearly impossible with most individual Yacumama being hundreds of miles away from another.
Another factor in their decreasing numbers is the number of eggs they lay as most clutches only contain around 5 to 7 eggs and their large appearance makes them very noticeable to predators. ( Yacumamu do not guard their nests so this makes predation far easier)
Their skin is heavily hardened and stone-like, with many people have accidentally sat on sleeping Yacumama believing them to be large rocks, and is nearly unbreakable with bullets being known to bounce off them, melee weapons shattering upon impact, and the claws, teeth, and stingers of other creatures not being able to pierce it. As a matter of fact, the only recorded cases of a Yacumama's skin breaking occurred in fights with other Yacumama.
Yacumama have a much higher metabolism than all the other species of Snake and they have to eat almost every day whilst other species of Snake can sometimes go months without a meal
Extra Fun Fact: Many believe that Yacumama are the evolved descendants of a small population of Titanoboa that managed to survive the Climate Change that wiped out their species and there has been some genetic testing done that backs this belief up.
