The larger an animal is, the greater our fascination with it. When it comes to reptiles, out of all the monsters there are including, alligators, crocs and komodo dragons, the mighty anaconda still trumps them in the size stakes.
First off, lets not confuse length with size. The longest recorded snakes are not anacondas but Asian pythons which can have been caught measuring 11 to 12 meters. Anacondas can grow up to 8 - 10 meters long and as wide a man. They are very powerful and muscular, unlike some of their python relatives.
One of the reasons that the anaconda is so big and powerful is that it has evolved a way to kill it's prey not by using venom, or even by biting. Their prey is literally squeezed to death by those powerful muscles and then eaten when freshly killed.
They are an alpha predator in the sense that they have no known predators in the wild. When they are young they can fall prey to hawks or other larger creatures, but a fully grown anaconda has no known threats apart form man.
Living in the Amazonian rain forests, the green anaconda belongs to a family of non venomous boas ( also called boa constrictors due to the nature of how they kill).
They live mainly in the water and are great swimmers. They occasionally come out of the water but on land they are sluggish movers. their diet consists of just about anything that it can catch that's smaller that it. This may include fish, birds, other snakes, rabbits, reptiles and larger animals including deer, antelopes even jaguars.
There have even been a few reported cases where an anaconda has been found to have swallowed a whole man! this is where the reputation of the man-eater comes from. In reality however these cases are few and far between.
All boas including anacondas have a distinct method for killing. They wrap several coils of their body around the prey. Their massive size stops the prey escaping but they do not crush it to death as some people mistakenly believe.
Instead they sense the breathing patterns of their catch. When the prey exhales it breath, the anaconda tightens it grip slightly so that on the next breath, the animal is restricted in it's breathing. This has the effect of not only stopping the respiratory function but also increasing the blood pressure. The animal either dies by asphyxiation or by heart failure.
After wards it is devoured in one piece. Depending on how big the prey is, this may take several days or even weeks.
The magnificent and awe-inspiring New England aquarium should be on the itinerary of any traveler to Boston. This immense aquarium, one of the largest of its kind in the world, boasts a multitude of ocean-dwelling life forms presented in a number of different environments, simulating many marine habitats from the warm tropical areas as well as more temperate environments.
One of the aquarium's primary exhibits is the Giant Ocean Tank. This section is so massive that it was built first, and the aquarium's other features built surrounding it. 40 feet wide and 23 feet deep, the tank holds no less than 200,000 gallons of water. Since this is a tropical ocean exhibit, the water is heated to an appropriate temperature. This immense four-storey coral reef structure features such creatures as Myrtle the aquarium's iconic sea turtle, other sea turtles, barracuda, sand tiger sharks, moray eels, stingrays and countless vibrantly coloured reef fish.
The marine Mammal Center has been designed to provide visitors with an authentic glimpse into the life of marine mammals such as seals and provide an understanding of the threats facing these creatures.
The Penguin Exhibit is another highlight, displaying 80 individuals in a mammoth display area. Visitors may look at the birds through the periscope, interact with them at the 'penguin light station', or take advantage of the several interactive activities here.
No to be missed is the Amazon Rainforest exhibit, which depicts creatures from the world's most luxuriant jungles. Look out for anacondas, piranhas, stingrays and electric eels as well as poison dart frogs, Surinam toads and the exquisite cardinal tetra fish.
Also on display are rare creatures that are not normally viewed by humans, such as the brainless, boneless sea jellies in 'Amazing Jellies'; another unique feature is the Seadragon Exhibit which displays the leafy and weedy seadragons. There is additionally much more to see in New England Aquarium, as one might expect from a premier aquarium.
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