Green anaconda

Green anaconda
Temporal range: Late Pleistocene-recent
CITES Appendix II (CITES)
Scientific classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Reptilia
Order: Squamata
Suborder: Serpentes
Family: Boidae
Genus: Eunectes
Species:
E. murinus
Binomial name
Eunectes murinus
Distribution of Eunectes murinus
Synonyms 
  • [Boa] murina Linnaeus, 1758
  • [Boa] Scytale Linnaeus, 1758
  • Boa gigas Latreille, 1802
  • Boa anacondo Daudin, 1803
  • Boa aquatica Wied-Neuwied, 1824
  • Eunectes murinus Wagler, 1830
  • Eunectes murina Gray, 1831
  • Eunectes murinus Boulenger, 1893
  • Eunectes scytale Stull, 1935
  • [Eunectes murinus] murinus
    Dunn & Conant, 1936
  • Eunectes barbouri
    Dunn & Conant, 1936
  • Eunectes murinus murinus
    – Dunn, 1944
  • Eunectes akayima Rivas et al., 2024

The green anaconda (Eunectes murinus), also known as the giant anaconda, emerald anaconda, common anaconda, common water boa, or southern green anaconda, is a semi-aquatic boa species found in South America and the Caribbean island of Trinidad. It is the largest, heaviest, and second longest (after the reticulated python) snake in the world. No subspecies are currently recognized, but there are two different species that have the name of the Green Anaconda which are the Northern Green Anaconda and Southern Green Anaconda. Like all boas, it is a non-venomous constrictor. The term "anaconda" often refers to this species, though the term could also apply to other members of the genus Eunectes. Fossils of the snake date back to the Late Pleistocene in the Gruta do Urso locality.