Most people have never heard of
Colombia's Cerrejon Coal Mine. Located in Northern
Colombia, the Cerrejon Mine produces millions of
tons of coal each year. However, the area
is equally known for being a critical
site for scientists studying the prehistoric era. It's number one claim to
fame is a nightmare-inducing prehistoric snake that was
roughly the size of a bus. Today, we're going to take
a look inside the coal mine that revealed proof of a
prehistoric mega-snake who lived in a land
of giant reptiles. But before we get started, be
sure to subscribe to the Weird History channel and let us
know in the comments below what other prehistoric topics you
would like to hear about. OK, get ready. You are about to get knocked
down a link or two on the food chain. [MUSIC PLAYING] Far more than just
a fossil trove, Cerrejon is one of the largest
coal mines in the world. The pits stretch for 15
miles, making the mine larger than Washington,
DC, but less dirty. The mine employs about 10,000
people at any given time and produces more
than 30 million tons of lung-blackening
coal each year. While you'd probably
assume this operation would be dangerous to the fossils
in the scientific research, the truth is actually
quite the contrary. It was this operation
that actually first helped uncover the incredible fossil
discoveries that make the place such a paradise for scientists. Way back in the early
2000s, Fabiany Herrera was a geology major at
the Industrial University of Santander in Colombia. While on a school-related field
trip to the Cerrejon Coal Mine, he made a startling discovery. Fabiany picked up a piece of
rock and noticed impressions from a prehistoric leaf. He then examined other
rocks in the vicinity and found they all exhibited
the same impressions. He took samples to a scientist
working for Colombia's oil company, Carlos Jaramillo. Stunned by the
discovery, Jaramillo contacted the Smithsonian and
requested a paleo-biologist to help him inspect the mine. In 2003, that team,
along with Herrera, would undertake their first
fossil hunt in Cerrejon. [MUSIC PLAYING] To say Herrera discovered
the fossils wouldn't exactly be accurate. The coal company that mined
Cerrejon had known there were fossils in their
pits for some time. At least as far back
as 1990, a geologist named Henry Garcia had picked
one up right off the ground and put it on display
in his office. He didn't know
what it really was, so he called it
petrified branch. But it wasn't a branch. In 2003, a paleo-biologist
named Scott Wing snapped a picture of the
so-called petrified branch and sent it over to a
colleague, Jonathan Bloch. Bloch immediately
recognized that the fossil wasn't a branch at all. It was the jawbone of an animal. That may not sound
very important. But as a matter of fact,
it was the first fossil from a land
vertebrate ever found in tropical South America. Bloch got on a plane
and headed to Colombia to see the fossil in person. He made it to the mine. But when he got
there, no one could seem to find the key
to the display case. The eager scientists
couldn't wait. They broke the glass and
confirmed Bloch's assessment. [MUSIC PLAYING] At Cerrejon, scientists
discovered fossils from the largest snake
ever known to have existed. The species grew up
to 49 feet in length and could weigh 2 tons-- basically your worst nightmare. This monstrous life-form,
which they named titanoboa, looked like a cross
between an anaconda and a boa constrictor, but
much, much larger and much, much, much scarier. [HISSING] Yes, Ice Cube, they do make
snakes out there this big. Needless to say, it would have
dominated the tropical swamp in which it lived. As an apex predator,
titanoboa would have hunted enormous
animals like crocodiles and large turtles. Anyway, if the thought of a
titanoboa puckers your bum, then think about the fact
that they didn't just find one snake at that
Colombian coal mine. They found nearly 30. Each one measured at
least 42 feet long. I'm glad we live in
the era we live in. [MUSIC PLAYING] Titanoboa was in plain
sight at the coal mine, but it wasn't
discovered immediately. When the team of
paleontologists first began collecting
fossils in 2003, they were quickly overwhelmed
by the sheer number of items. Because of their large size,
one group of discoveries was mislabeled as prehistoric
crocodile vertebrae. Thanks to the mistake,
it wouldn't actually be until 2007 that scientists
realized the parts actually belonged to a snake. Jonathan Bloch blamed
himself for the error. He had experience
with snake vertebrae, but nothing anything
even close to that large. The scientist said the
confusing experience was like finding an animal
skull the size of a rhinoceros and then discovering it
belonged to a really big mouse. [MUSIC PLAYING] As if being the largest snake
in history wasn't scary enough, titanoboa actually ranks
as one of the largest animals in history, period. It could grow up to about 50
feet, which, for reference, is about as long as a school bus. In the weight
department, titanoboa could reach as much
as 2,500 pounds. Oh, that's a heavy snake. Titanoboa's size
also immediately helped the scientists to
do some valuable contextual information. First, as a
cold-blooded reptile, the snake would have required
an extremely warm climate to support its massive size. Researchers estimated that
the average temperature in titanoboa's habitat probably
exceeded 90 degrees Fahrenheit, helpful evidence that shed new
light on prehistoric climates. [MUSIC PLAYING] Cerrejon is rich in coal today. But 60 million-ish years
ago, the environment was completely different. Back then, the land
before time would have been covered by
a swampy jungle that received almost twice as
much rainfall as the Amazon Rainforest receives today. The temperature would
have also been higher, with averages closer to
90 degrees Fahrenheit. This mega-snake infested
swamp would also be replete with palm trees that
grew from muddy flood plains surrounded by cloudy rivers. The environment would
be the perfect home, sweet home for a
50-foot-long, 2 ton snake. [MUSIC PLAYING] Cerrejon is still
an active coal mine, but it's also still one of
the most important places in the world when it comes
to finding fossil deposits. According to Carlos
Jaramillo, "Cerrejon is one of the best and
probably the only window on a complete ancient
tropical ecosystem anywhere in the world." The coal mine is exceptional
because it captures the world of 60 million
years ago better than any other known location. The area is rich in fossils of
both plants and animals, most of which can't be found
anywhere else in the tropics. So let's say you're not
afraid of a 50-foot snake that weighs 2 tons. Would the Cerrejon Mine
of 60 million years ago be a place you
might want to visit? Well, before you book
your trip on Expedia, know that the coal mine also
contained multiple species of prehistoric crocodiles. One of those massive creatures
was Anthracosuchus balrogus, a 16-foot-long,
900-pound killing machine that takes its name from a
fictional creature in JRR Tolkien's book,
"Lord of the Rings." Remember that thing that was
after them when Gandalf said, run you fools? That's a balrog. Jonathan Bloch explained that
much like Tolkien's balrog, Anthracosuchus
balrogus was awakened from deep within a mine after
60 million years trapped within the rocks of
tropical South America. [MUSIC PLAYING] Scientists at Cerrejon not only
discovered multiple new species of prehistoric
crocodile, they also found evidence that explains
how some animals survived mass extinctions. For example, some
crocodiles were able to survive the
same conditions that precipitated the
decline of dinosaurs about 65 million years ago. The researchers believe an
animal like the balrogus would have swam across
the Atlantic from Africa to South America, where it
adapted to a new freshwater environment. According to scholar
Alex Hastings, the fossils in the
mine also demonstrate that contrary to the
popular misconception that crocodiles have
remained virtually unchanged for the last 250
million years, they've actually changed quite
extensively in even just the past 60 million. They've been busy. Also discovered at Cerrejon was
a species of prehistoric turtle that had a shell at
least 5 feet wide. The Gomera-esque creature was
named Puentemys mushaisaensis, named after the coal
mines, La Puente Pit. Not only was this fellow
significantly bigger than any modern turtle, it also
had an unusual circular shell. Scientists believe this circular
shell was more than just a fashion choice. It gave the turtle an advantage. The flat round shell
allowed the animal to swim with little water resistance. And on land, it would
have soaked up heat to keep the turtle moving. The shell may have also
protected the turtle from predators like titanoboa. Even the biggest
snake in history likely wouldn't have been able
to fit the wide flat shell into its mouth. The exposed mines in
Cerrejon revealed a field of enormous turtle shells,
kind of like a level in Super Mario Brothers. According to Fabiany
Herrera, some were even more than
5 feet wide, implying a turtle that would
have weighed somewhere in the vicinity of 300 pounds. These massive turtles
would have been hunted by those giant
prehistoric crocodiles we discussed previously. There always has to be a bully. One species of croc
found at Cerrejon even had jaws
large enough to let it bite 1 and 1/2 feet
into the turtles' shells. The turtles also
occasionally fell prey to titanoboa, which isn't
too surprising since it was the Godzilla of snakes. [MUSIC PLAYING] The ridge that makes up
Cerrejon's coal deposit is estimated to be about
60 million years old, and it may shed light
on the meteorite that struck the Yucatan
Peninsula, creating an environmental crisis that
wiped out the dinosaurs. Clues from Cerrejon suggest
that creatures like titanoboa thrived once the
dinosaurs were gone, while other animals like the
prehistoric crocodiles who survived had a harder
time adapting to changes. The coal mining
operation at Cerrejon continues to extract over
30 million tons of coal from the ground every year. The work also helps
uncover new fossils. Some of the pits at
the mine plunge over 300 feet down into
the earth, which is about how far you have to
dig to reach the world of 60 million years ago. Though their purposes
are very different, the miners' tools make it
much easier for the scientists to make critical discoveries. Carlos Jaramillo pointed out
that every time the miners closed up one pit,
they'd open another one. And the scientists would
then always find new things. So what do you think? How long would you survive
in a titanoboa-filled swamp? Let us know in the
comments below. And while you're at it, check
out some of these other videos from our Weird History.
*Colombia
TIL Titanoboa only ate professional swimmers.
I don't know if odd is the wording used in the video, but mining and petroleum operations working with paleontologists, is very routine, as they are constantly finding new fossil beds in their digs.
That nodosaur mummy from last year, was found during mining operations, opal mining operations in Australia are constantly finding fossils. Hell, it's thought that the reason that dragons hoarding gold is a trope is because dinosaur bones were commonly found in gold mines