| Python anchietae | |
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Scientific classification 
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| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Reptilia |
| Order: | Squamata |
| Suborder: | Serpentes |
| Family: | Pythonidae |
| Genus: | Python |
| Species: | P. anchietae
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| Binomial name | |
| Python anchietae Bocage, 1887
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| Approximate distribution | |
| Synonyms[2] | |
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Python anchietae (with common names Angolan python and Anchieta's dwarf python)[3] is a python species endemic to southern Africa. According to Donald George Broadley (1990), this species is most closely related to the ball python (P. regius) of western Africa,[3] and no subspecies are currently recognized.[4] It is named after the Portuguese naturalist and explorer José Alberto de Oliveira Anchieta.[5] Like all other pythons, it is not venomous.
Description
editPython anchietae may grow up to 183 cm (6 ft) in total length (including tail). The color pattern is a reddish-brown to brown to almost black ground, overlaid with irregular white or cream-colored bands and spots. The belly is yellowish. A rare species seldom seen in the wild or in captivity, it is the only python to have "bead-like" head scales.[3] It has heat sensitive pits, five on each side of the head, on the upper lip. The smooth dorsal scales are arranged in 57-61 rows.[6]
Distribution and habitat
editPython anchietae is found in Africa in southern Angola and northern Namibia. The type locality given is "Catumbella [Catumbela]" near Lobito, Angola.[2][4] Habitats are rocky outcrops or areas strewn with rocks in open brush or grassland.[3] Diurnal, they shelter in small caves, overhangs and crevices.
Behaviour and biology
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Python anchietae exhibits hisses, which are mostly bluff.[3] Its diet consists of small mammals and birds.[3] It is oviparous, with small clutches of four to five eggs being produced at a time. Hatchlings are 43–46 cm (17–18 in)long.[3]
References
edit- ^ Baptista, N.; Becker, F.; Conradie, W.; Bauer, A.M. & Ceríaco, L.M.P. (2021). "Python anchietae". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2021 e.T177539A120594491. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2021-2.RLTS.T177539A120594491.en. Retrieved 19 November 2021.
- ^ a b McDiarmid, R.W. [in French]; Campbell, J.A.; Touré, T.A. (1999). Snake Species of the World: A Taxonomic and Geographic Reference. Vol. 1. Washington, District of Columbia: Herpetologists' League. ISBN 1-893777-01-4.
- ^ a b c d e f g Mehrtens JM (1987). Living Snakes of the World in Color. New York: Sterling Publishers. 480 pp. ISBN 0-8069-6460-X.
- ^ a b Python anchietae at the Reptarium.cz Reptile Database. Accessed 25 September 2020.
- ^ Beolens, Bo; Watkins, Michael; Grayson, Michael (2011). The Eponym Dictionary of Reptiles. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press. xiii + 296 pp. ISBN 978-1-4214-0135-5. (Python anchietae, p. 8).
- ^ Branch, Bill (2004). Field Guide to Snakes and other Reptiles of Southern Africa. Third Revised edition, Second Impression. Sanibel Island, Florida: Ralph Curtis Books. 399 pp. (Python anchietae, p. 59 + Plate 17).
Further reading
edit
- Bocage JVB (1887). "Sur un Python nouveau d'Afrique ". Jornal de sciencias mathematicas physicas e naturaes, Lisboa [12] (46): 87–88. (Python anchietae, new species). (in French).
