Previously, constrictors were thought to kill by suffocating the animal, but new research suggests otherwise.Īfter being born live among around 30 or so siblings, young anaconda are only 3 feet long and are preyed upon by a range of animals.
They then constrict their prey to limit circulation and cut off blood flow to the heart and brain. When ambushing land-living prey, anaconda strike from the water’s edge using their backward facing teeth to lock onto the animal’s flesh. Because of the large size of their prey, anaconda can go months without a single meal. They can unhinge their lower jaws and stretch their bodies to swallow prey whole. This camouflages them perfectly in murky Amazonian waters as they wait for an unsuspecting animal to approach the water.Īnaconda are mainly nocturnal and use their senses to search for a range of food, including capybara, fish, birds, deer, tapir, and caiman. Their bodies have an olive-green color with oval spots down their body and a yellow underside. Although they find it difficult to move on land, anaconda are graceful swimmers and are adapted with their eyes and nasal openings atop their heads to conceal themselves under the water to ambush prey. These Amazon Rainforest animals prefer slow moving water or swamps and marshes. Despite these differences, both the python and boa groups contain some of the largest snakes on Earth.Īnaconda range across South America from the north to as far south as Paraguay, but are mainly found in the Amazon and Orinoco basins. Boas then have a few differences, such as lacking postfrontal bones in their skulls and giving birth to live young. Both groups have a vestigial pelvic bone, lack venom, and use constriction to kill their prey. Similar in behavior to pythons, anacondas are members of the boa group of snakes (Boidae) and share some similar characteristics with the pythons. The females reach a larger body size than males and cannibalism among the snakes is reported, often where the females eat the male. The most famous snake, and an icon of the Amazon Rainforest, is the anaconda, which refer to snakes of the genus Eunectes and more often specifically to the green anaconda, Eunectes murinus.įamous as a giant of the Amazon, the green anaconda is the world’s heaviest snake and one of the world’s longest, second only in length the the less robust reticulated python. These include the very attractive rainbow boas, emerald tree boas, whip snakes, and coral snakes. There are a fantastic diversity of Amazon Rainforest snakes with diverse colors and behaviors. Today, one of the largest groups of reptiles are the snakes with around 3,000 different species, which live on every continent except Antarctica. Reptiles are one of the oldest animal groups and have lived in the Amazon since it first formed around 55 million years ago. Unless threatened, anaconda are not likely to attack and instead prefer swimming away to find a quieter area to rest. The large predators and iconic animals that roam this expansive forest include the famous jaguar, black caiman, and Amazon jungle anaconda, a fascinating snake surrounded in mystery.Ĭhancing upon these giant snakes is a fantastic experience in the Amazon especially while canoeing through the swamps or flooded forest. As Earth’s largest tropical wilderness, the Amazon is home to more species than anywhere else.