Snakes tend to scare a lot of people out. Some snakes are not so dangerous (maybe not at all), but python is for sure not one of them.
Let’s find out more about them!
- The Pythonidae, commonly known as pythons, are a family of nonvenomous snakes.
- They can be found in Africa, Asia, and Australia.
- More specifically pythons are found in sub-Saharan Africa, Nepal, India, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Southeast Asia, southeastern Pakistan, southern China, the Philippines and Australia.
- In the United States, an introduced population of Burmese pythons, Python bivittatus, has existed as an invasive species in the Everglades National Park since the late 1990s.
- Among its members are some of the largest snakes in the world.
- Ten genera and 42 species are currently recognized.
- Many species have been hunted aggressively.
- Hunting has greatly reduced the population of some, such as the Indian python, Python molurus.
- Most members of this family are ambush predators.
- In that they typically remain motionless in a camouflaged position, and then strike suddenly at passing prey.
- Attacks on humans, although known to occur, are extremely rare.
- Pythons use their sharp, backward-curving teeth, four rows in the upper jaw, two in the lower, to grasp prey which is then killed by constriction.
- After an animal has been grasped to restrain it, the python quickly wraps a number of coils around it.
- Death occurs primarily by cardiac arrest.
- Larger specimens usually eat animals about the size of a house cat, but larger food items are known.
- Some large Asian species have been known to take down adult deer, and the African rock python, Python sebae, has been known to eat antelope.
- In 2017, there was a recorded case of a human devoured by a python in Sulawesi, Indonesia.
- All prey is swallowed whole, and may take several days or even weeks to fully digest.
- Contrary to popular belief, even the larger species, such as the reticulated python, P. reticulatus, do not crush their prey to death. In fact, prey is not even noticeably deformed before it is swallowed. The speed with which the coils are applied is impressive and the force they exert may be significant, but death is caused by cardiac arrest.
- Pythons are oviparous, that is, they lay eggs.
- This sets them apart from the family Boidae (boas), most of which bear live young (ovoviviparous).
- After they lay their eggs, females typically incubate them until they hatch.
- This is achieved by causing the muscles to “shiver”, which raises the temperature of the body to a certain degree, and thus that of the eggs.
- Keeping the eggs at a constant temperature is essential for healthy embryo development.
- During the incubation period, females do not eat and leave only to bask to raise their body temperature.
- Pythons are cold-blooded, which means that they cannot regulate their own body temperature, and must rely on the environment to heat up or cool down.
- They belong to the group of snakes called constrictors.
- Even in the wild, pythons are one of the longest living species of snakes. They have been found in the wild to have lived up to and over 30 years old.
- The larges species of python is the reticulated python. These gigantic snakes have been found in the wild measuring over 30 feet in length and 250 lbs.
- On the opposite end of the spectrum is the pygmy python. Unlike its humongous cousin, this snake is only 20 inches in length and only weighs about 7 ounces.
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