The accurate version of the headline is this: Will Smith joined a real research expedition in Ecuador’s Amazon while National Geographic filmed Pole to Pole with Will Smith. During the expedition, Smith helped scientists and Waorani guides collect a sample from a large green anaconda. Those samples later contributed to a 2024 study proposing that northern and southern green anacondas are different species.
The accurate version of the headline is this: Will Smith joined a real research expedition in Ecuador’s Amazon while National Geographic filmed Pole to Pole with Will Smith. During the expedition, Smith helped scientists and Waorani guides collect a sample from a large green anaconda. Those samples later contributed to a 2024 study proposing that northern and southern green anacondas are different species.
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Smith did not single-handedly find, identify, or name a previously unknown snake. The formal taxonomic work came from a multi-author research team led by scientists, with Indigenous Waorani collaborators playing an important role in the field expedition.
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The expedition took place in the Bameno region of Baihuaeri Waorani Territory in the Ecuadorian Amazon. Scientists, Waorani guides, and the National Geographic production team traveled by boat in search of wildlife and collected biological samples for research.
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The scientific team was led by venomologist Bryan Fry and included Waorani collaborators such as Penti Baihua and Marcelo Tepeña Baihua. Smith participated as the documentary host and an on-camera member of the expedition.
In the footage, the group encounters a female green anaconda estimated at about 16 to 17 feet long—approximately 4.9 to 5.2 meters. Local guides and researchers handled the animal so the team could collect samples. Smith assisted with collecting a scale sample.
That sample was not simply a souvenir or a way to prove that the snake was large. Scale, blood, and tissue samples can provide information about an animal’s genetics. Fry also explained that samples can help researchers investigate pollutants accumulating in the water and in the bodies of animals living there.
What did researchers discover about green anacondas?
Before the study, animals across much of South America were generally classified as the green anaconda, Eunectes murinus. The 2024 paper “Disentangling the Anacondas: Revealing a New Green Species and Rethinking Yellows” analyzed genetic data from four recognized anaconda species across nine South American countries.
The researchers examined 71 individuals and compared three mitochondrial genes totaling 2,939 base pairs. Their results showed two distinct genetic clades among anacondas that had been treated as Eunectes murinus:
- Southern green anaconda: retained the name Eunectes murinus.
- Northern green anaconda: proposed as Eunectes akayima.
The proposed northern species occurs across northern South America, including Ecuador, Colombia, Venezuela, Trinidad, Guyana, Suriname, French Guiana, and northern Brazil, according to the study and related scientific reporting.
Why does the “new” anaconda look familiar?
Eunectes akayima is described as a cryptic species. In biology, that means a species is difficult to distinguish visually from a closely related species even though genetic, geographic, or evolutionary evidence indicates that the two lineages are separate.
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1Fix the driver behind crashes, sound loss and screen glitches2Repair Windows errors before they cause bigger problems3Scan for outdated or missing drivers - takes under a minuteIn practical terms, researchers did not discover a completely unfamiliar-looking snake. They encountered a large green anaconda—the kind of animal people had long recognized—but genetic analysis suggested that northern and southern populations represented separate evolutionary lineages.
Popular accounts commonly describe the two lineages as approximately 5.5% different in mitochondrial DNA and say that they diverged roughly 10 million years ago. Those figures come from the 2024 study and should be understood as that study’s findings and interpretation, rather than as measurements that settle every question about anaconda evolution.
The name akayima was presented as deriving from a Cariban-language term associated with a great snake. The study designated a Venezuelan specimen as the holotype for E. akayima. It retained E. murinus for the southern form partly to preserve nomenclatural stability, because the southern species has the larger distribution, and designated a lectotype from the Xingu River region of Pará, Brazil.
Is Eunectes akayima an accepted species name?
The safest answer is: it is a name proposed in a 2024 scientific study, but its status is disputed.
Specialists published criticism soon after the paper appeared. A March 2024 paper by Vásquez-Restrepo, Alfonso-Rojas, and Palacios-Aguilar challenged the nomenclatural validity of Eunectes akayima, arguing that the name did not satisfy relevant requirements of zoological nomenclature and that an older name might have priority.
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A separate critique by Dubois and coauthors questioned both nomenclatural issues and aspects of the taxonomic evidence, including the species concept used and whether the genetic markers were sufficient to support the conclusions. A later review in the Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society also characterized the naming problem as significant and summarized arguments that E. akayima could be a junior synonym of an older name—or that the proposed name might be unavailable under zoological nomenclature.
For that reason, it would be too strong to write that every authority now agrees that the northern green anaconda is definitively named Eunectes akayima. A careful description is that the 2024 study proposed or recognized a northern green anaconda as a separate species under that name, while the name and some of the study’s taxonomic conclusions remain contested.
Did the study change the classification of yellow anacondas too?
Yes. The paper was broader than the northern-green-anaconda story. It also proposed consolidating the yellow-anaconda names Eunectes deschauenseei and Eunectes beniensis under Eunectes notaeus.
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Repair Windows errors before they cause bigger problemsFix Now →Scan for outdated or missing drivers - takes under a minuteDriver Scan →That secondary proposal is one reason the paper should be viewed as a wider revision of anaconda classification, not simply as a scientific report about the individual snake encountered during filming.
What exactly was Will Smith’s role?
Smith was an expedition participant and documentary host who helped collect a biological sample on camera. That is meaningful participation, but it is not the same as independently discovering or naming the species.
The distinction matters because species identification often happens long after fieldwork. A team may collect a scale, blood, or tissue sample in the field, then compare DNA sequences with samples from other animals, analyze geographic patterns, test competing taxonomic explanations, and publish the results after peer review. That later research—not a celebrity’s first encounter with the animal—is what supports a proposed species split.
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A precise summary would be: While filming Pole to Pole with Will Smith, Will Smith joined a research expedition in the Ecuadorian Amazon that collected samples later used in a study proposing that northern and southern green anacondas are distinct lineages.
How does the documentary fit into the timeline?
The Amazon expedition took place in 2022, before the scientific paper was published. The study appeared on February 16, 2024. The footage was later used in the documentary series Pole to Pole with Will Smith, which follows Smith on a 100-day journey across seven continents.
Disney’s official editorial information says the series premiered on National Geographic on January 13, 2026, with episodes becoming available on Disney+ on January 14, 2026. Streaming availability and release timing can differ by country and can change as platform catalogs change. Readers interested in the encounter can watch Pole to Pole with Will Smith through an officially available National Geographic or Disney destination in their region.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.Why the discovery matters
Finding a species is not always about seeing an animal no scientist has ever encountered. Biodiversity can also be hidden inside a group that appears familiar. A cryptic species may have a different geographic range, evolutionary history, ecological role, or conservation status from its close relative.
Better classification can therefore affect conservation planning. If what was considered one widespread species is actually two or more geographically distinct species, researchers may need to assess threats separately. Habitat loss, pollution, hunting pressure, and changes to waterways may affect northern and southern populations differently.
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It is also a reminder that field biology is collaborative. The expedition depended on scientific expertise, local knowledge, guides who could navigate the environment, and relationships with the Waorani community. The resulting publication had numerous scientific and Indigenous collaborators; it was not the work of one television host.
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What the headline gets right—and wrong
| Claim | Verdict |
|---|---|
| Will Smith was present during an Amazon expedition involving a large green anaconda. | Accurate. |
| Smith helped collect a sample from the animal. | Accurate. The filmed footage shows him assisting with a scale sample. |
| Smith personally identified and named a new species. | Incorrect. The formal proposal came from a multi-author genetic and phylogeographic study. |
| The northern green anaconda is officially and universally accepted as Eunectes akayima. | Too strong. The name and parts of the classification have been challenged. |
| The animal is definitively the world’s largest snake. | Not established by this study. Species classification and record-size claims are separate questions. |
So, did Will Smith help discover a new species of anaconda? In the broad, documentary-friendly sense, he took part in the expedition that collected material contributing to the discovery story. In the strict scientific sense, the species-level conclusion came from the researchers who later analyzed the samples and published the taxonomic study—and even that conclusion remains open to specialist debate.
Frequently Asked Questions
Did Will Smith really discover a new species of anaconda?
Smith joined a 2022 research expedition in Ecuador’s Amazon while National Geographic filmed Pole to Pole with Will Smith. He helped researchers and Waorani guides collect a scale sample from a large female green anaconda. Later genetic research proposed that northern and southern green anacondas are separate lineages.
What is the new anaconda species called?
The study proposed Eunectes akayima for the northern green anaconda. However, specialist papers later challenged the name’s nomenclatural validity and questioned aspects of the taxonomic evidence, so it should not be presented as a universally settled name.
How can two anaconda species look almost identical?
The proposed northern green anaconda is a cryptic species: it looks very similar to the southern green anaconda and is distinguished mainly through genetic and geographic evidence.
The Bottom Line
Will Smith did not single-handedly discover a never-before-seen snake. He joined Bryan Fry, Waorani guides, and other researchers during a 2022 Ecuadorian Amazon expedition filmed for Pole to Pole with Will Smith. A multi-author study published in 2024 used genetic evidence to propose that northern green anacondas are distinct from southern green anacondas, naming the northern form Eunectes akayima. That name and parts of the classification have since been challenged, so “proposed northern green anaconda species” is the most accurate wording.
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