Titanoboa, which measured up to 45 feet long, was the world's longest ever snake. This gigantic boa constrictor- like snake lived 60 million years ago in what is now northern Colombia. Based on a fossil find reported this week in the Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology, University of Florida researchers now think its prey included a 6 to 7-foot-long distant relative of crocodiles.

泰坦莽體長可達45英尺，是目前已知的世界上最長的蛇。6千萬年前，這種類似于莽的巨蛇生活在現(xiàn)在的哥倫比亞北部。根據(jù)本周發(fā)表在《脊椎動物古生物學(xué)期刊》的一篇關(guān)化石研究報告，弗洛里達大學(xué)的研究人員們認為，泰坦莽的獵物（甚至）包括一種身長為6到7英尺的鱷魚類的遠親。

Remains of the croc-like animal were found close to the imposing snake. It's the first ever crocodyliform to be identified from the site, the Cerrejon Formation.

在巨蛇的化石旁邊，研究人員還發(fā)現(xiàn)了一種和鱷魚類似的生物的化石。這是首次從塞雷洪地層發(fā)現(xiàn)鱷形目的生物。

“We’re starting to flesh out the fauna that we have from there,” said lead author Alex Hastings, a graduate student at the Florida Museum and UF’s department of geological sciences.

該報告的主要撰寫人叫亞歷克黑斯廷斯，他是一名地質(zhì)學(xué)超濾專業(yè)的學(xué)生，目前在佛羅里達州博物館工作。他說，“我們正試著（根據(jù)化石）還原我們在那里發(fā)現(xiàn)那里的生物?！?/div>

Hastings thinks the newly identified species, named Cerrejonisuchus improcerus, would've been easy pickings for Titanoboa.

哈斯汀認為，這種新發(fā)現(xiàn)的、命名為“Cerrejonisuchus improcerus"的生物，是不會被泰坦莽輕而易舉捕食的。

Although Cerrejonisuchus is not directly linked to modern crocodiles, it was an important member of South American rainforest ecosystems, according to Jonathan Bloch, a Florida Museum vertebrate paleontologist and associate curator.
佛羅里達州博物館的古脊椎動物和副館長布洛赫說，雖然它與現(xiàn)在的鱷魚沒有什么直接的聯(lián)系，但卻是南美熱帶雨林生態(tài)系統(tǒng)中的重要成員。

“Clearly this new fossil would have been part of the food-chain, both as predator and prey,” said Bloch, who co-led the fossil-hunting expeditions to Cerrejon with Smithsonian paleobotanist Carlos Jaramillo. “Giant snakes today are known to eat crocodylians, and it is not much of a reach to say Cerrejonisuchus would have been a frequent meal for Titanoboa. Fossils of the two are often found side-by-side.”
布洛赫曾與古植物學(xué)家斯史密森、卡洛哈拉米略共同到塞雷瓊尋找化石?！帮@然，如果能活到現(xiàn)在的話，無論是從作為捕食者還是被捕食者的角度來看，這種生物肯定是食物鏈中的一環(huán)。”他說，“如今，我們知道，大型的蛇類會以鱷魚類為食。而泰坦莽和這種新發(fā)現(xiàn)的生物的化石經(jīng)常是在一起被發(fā)現(xiàn)的，（因此）判斷泰坦莽把它當(dāng)成家常便飯是順理成章的?！?/div>

Today's anacondas, for example, are known to gulp down caimans in the Amazon. Titanoboa could've swallowed such toothy prey as though it were an appetizer.
比如，據(jù)說在亞馬遜河一帶，水莽會一口吞下一只凱門鱷。但泰坦莽不可能把它這樣牙齒發(fā)達的生物當(dāng)作開胃菜一口吞下。

Cerrejonisuchus improcerus had a fairly short snout, especially for the Dyrosauridae, a family of now-extinct crocodyliforms to which it belonged. Based on its anatomy, the scientists suspect it ate frogs, lizards, small snakes and possibly certain mammals.

這種新發(fā)現(xiàn)的生物的鼻子稍短，特別是相對于它所屬的、現(xiàn)在瀕臨滅絕的鱷形目生物來說。根據(jù)對它的解剖分析，科學(xué)家們認為它可能以青蛙、蜥蜴、蛇為食，很可能也吃一些哺乳動物。

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