Will Smith just became part of a massive scientific discovery while filming a documentary with National Geographic in the Amazon as they discovered a new species of giant anaconda.

The Amazon, which encompasses several countries in South America, is home to the Green Anaconda, considered the largest and heaviest snake species on Earth, although not the longest. However, the National Geographic documentary team, which included the controversial "Men in Black" actor, found that the Green Anaconda is actually two different species.

The National Geographic documentary crew, which followed Professor Bryan Fry of the University of Queensland, was collaborating with the scientists and the Indigenous Waorani people to study the effects of oil drilling in the Amazon. However, they also happened to discover a new anaconda species in the process.

"When you look at the male and female anacondas you wouldn't think they were the same animal, let alone the same species," the professor told IFLScience. This is because female anacondas are actually much larger than their male counterparts, and they have different diets. This pointed to their discovery that there are actually two different Green Anaconda species, as noted by the stark differences in the sexes, leading to scientists previously believing that there is only one green anaconda species.

"As top predators, anacondas are especially vulnerable to habitat degradation," Fry wrote in a paper regarding the effects of oil spills on Amazon species. "Not only do they suffer from the damage to the habitat, they are also heavily impacted by the damage to their prey base.

Scientists Took Blood Samples From Anacondas in Brazil, Venezuela, Ecuador, With Will Smith's Team Documenting

Will Smith is actually working on a National Geographic documentary for Disney+ titled "Pole to Pole With Will Smith." He and his documentary team went with Professor Fry as he collected blood and tissue samples from green anacondas in Ecuador, Venezuela, and Brazil.

This data that the team gathered then led to the discovery as the samples showed there was a distinct genetic difference between the species found in the Ecuadorian part of the Amazon and the species found in the South. While the southern species will continue to be known by its scientific name, Eunectes Murinus, the northern species will now be known as the Northern Green Anaconda with the scientific name Eunectes Akayima.

According to ABC-7, Fry called the discovery "the highlight of my career." He also noted that the genetic differences between the larger northern species and the smaller southern species are "massive," adding, "They're five-and-a-half percent different, genetically. Now, to put that into context, we're about two percent different from chimps."

Range of New Anaconda Species Also Differs From Range of Known Green Anaconda Species

The Conversation, meanwhile noted that the areas where the two species of giant green anaconda differ. What is now known as the southern green anaconda can be found further south, with its range extending between Peru, Bolivia, French Guiana, and Brazil.

Meanwhile, the larger northern green anaconda, the new species that Professor Fry and Will Smith's National Geographic team helped discover, can be found in Ecuador, Colombia, Venezuela, Trinidad, Guyana, Suriname, and French Guiana.

This article is owned by Latin Post.

Written by: Rick Martin

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