Botflies perch on the head of a northern green Anaconda in Yasuni National Park in Ecuador. A new study recently revealed that the green anaconda is two distinct species, more genetically diverse than humans and chimpanzees. , is actually two genetically distinct species. This despite each species looking so similar that even experts can’t tell them apart.“They’re five-and-a-half percent different, genetically.
“I didn’t expect that level of divergence,” he says. “It’s just mind-blowing. We were all of us very much doing happy dances.” At weights of more than 500 pounds and recorded lengths of more than 29 feet, the largest anacondas are probably capable of killing and eating a human. However, such incidents have only been reliably documented in Asia, and with snakes known as reticulated pythons.While counting scales for his research, Fry says that, sometimes, the most informative areas are the ones closes to the snake’s nether regions. At the same time, anacondas are wont to release their bowels while being handled.
However, more work of this kind may be needed to understand how the northern and southern green anacondas embarked on separate evolutionary tracks. After all, the two species appear to coexist in French Guiana, even as close as being found on opposite riverbanks, says Fry. And yet, there’s no evidence of interbreeding in their genetics.
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