Reticulated python [1] ( lat. Python reticulatus ) is a non-toxic snake from the python family that lives in Asia .
| Mesh python |
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| Scientific classification |
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| No rank : | Bilateral symmetrical |
| Infraclass : | Lepidosauromorphs |
| Infrastructure : | Alethinophidia |
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| International scientific name |
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Python reticulatus
( Schneider , 1801 ) |
| Synonyms |
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- Boa reticulata Schneider, 1801
- Malayopython reticulatus
- Broghammerus reticulatus
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| Area |
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Content
The name "mesh" was obtained due to the complex pattern on the body, including a chain of light rhomboid spots in the middle of the back and triangular, interconnected dark spots with light centers on the sides. The head is bright. Scales with a strong rainbow shimmer.
Dimensions
Despite the availability of a large amount of data on giant reticulated pythons, such stories are not reliable. The famous Swedish naturalist Ralph Blomberg in his book "Giant Serpents and Scary Lizards" mentions an instance of 33 feet long, that is, about 10 meters. But it is not clear on what observations these data are based [2] . The net python from the Philippines with a length of 14.085 m and a weight of 447 kg, which was reported in the media , actually turned out to be more than half that [3] .
However, reticulated python is the longest snake in the world fauna. The largest individuals of the nominative subspecies in the wild can grow up to at least 7 meters in length. More than a thousand wild reticulated pythons were measured in the south of Sumatra , in length they were from 1.15 to 6.05 m and weight from 1 to 75 kg [4] . On Flores , snakes more than 4-5 meters long are regularly observed [5] . One of the largest measured individuals was a snake from Indonesia, it reached 6.95 m and weighed 59 kg, but did not eat for 3 months [6] . The reticulated pythons that live on small islands are much smaller than their mainland relatives and pythons from larger islands. Significantly the largest net python kept in captivity is a female about 7.5 m long, nicknamed Samantha, caught in Borneo and died in 2002 at the Bronx Zoo ( New York ).
The species is widespread in South and Southeast Asia . The range covers Bangladesh , Burma , India , Thailand , Laos , Cambodia , Vietnam , Malaysia , Singapore , Indonesia , Nicobar Islands and the Philippines.
Reticulated python lives in tropical forests, woodlands, on mountain slopes. In Java, found in the mountains at an altitude of 1200 m above sea level. It leads mainly a terrestrial lifestyle, but climbs trees well. It prefers moist habitats and often settles along the banks of rivers and other reservoirs. Swims beautifully, sometimes swims even in the open sea.
It hunts at dusk and at night, spends the day in various shelters (for example, in caves).
Nutrition
It feeds on a variety of vertebrates : monkeys , small ungulates , civet , rodents , birds , reptiles . Often attacks pets: goats , pigs , dogs and poultry. The usual prey can be young pigs and goats weighing up to 10-15 kg. A known case of eating pythons in pigs weighing more than 60 kg. Sometimes it hunts bats , which it catches directly in flight, catching its bumps on the bumps on the walls and ceiling of the cave.
Natural Enemies
Saltwater and Siamese crocodiles , as well as false gavials , are the most famous natural enemies of reticulated pythons, with the exception of humans [7] [8] . Crocodiles catch and eat pythons of any size and age, even large individuals more than 5 meters in length [8] . It is known that reticulated pythons, as a rule, are absent in the habitats of Komodo monitor lizards , despite the fact that they can be found in the central part of Flores and on neighboring islands. Walter Auffenberg believes that this fact may be the result of active predation of Komodo lizards in relation to pythons, from which pythons do not have effective protection [9] . Smaller predators such as feral dogs, king cobras and striped monitor lizards can sometimes eat young pythons [10] [11] .
The female python lays from 10 to 100 eggs, after which it coils around the masonry, warming and protecting the eggs from predators. Incubation at an optimum temperature of + 31–32 ° C lasts an average of 88 days. When hatching, young pythons are about 60 cm long.
The view forms three subspecies:
- Broghammerus reticulatus reticulatus - Nominative subspecies, which is the largest and most widespread. Around the middle of the body 68-78 scales, abdominal scutes 304-325. The range of this subspecies covers Bangladesh, Myanmar, Thailand, Nicobar Islands, Cambodia, Laos, Vietnam, Malaysia, Singapore, Brunei., Indonesia (Anambas, Sumatra, Simeluue, Nias, Batu Islands, Mentawai, Engano, Bank, Belitung, Kalimantan , Bunguran Islands (Natuna), Krakatau , Java, Bali , Lombok, Sumbawa, Sumba, Flores, Timor , Bobar Islands, Tanimbar Islands, Sulawesi , Butung Islands, Sula, Buru, Ambon, Seram, Ob Islands, Halmahera, Ternate, etc. .), Philippines. Missing in New Guinea .
- Broghammerus reticulatus saputrai - Around the middle of the body, 77–81 scales, abdominal scutes 330–334. It lives in Indonesia in the south-west of Sulawesi island and Salayar island.
- Broghammerus reticulatus jampeanus - A dwarf island subspecies, whose adults reach 2–2.5 m in length. Around the middle of the body there are 64–68 scales, 290–301 ventral scutes. Differs in soft coloring. It lives on the island of Tanahjampea, Indonesia.
Reticulated python meat is eaten by the local population, and it is a traditional fishery in Southeast Asia. Python skin is used in the haberdashery industry.
This large and aggressive snake can pose a certain danger to humans. There are several known cases of mesh pythons attacking humans, some of which are fatal. In particular, on June 15, 2018, in the south of Sulawesi (Indonesia), a reticulated python with a declared length of 8 m swallowed a 54-year-old local resident [12] .
Usually, a python does not attack such large prey as an adult, because subsequently it will not be able to swallow it, but large specimens can be potentially dangerous for children and adolescents.
Despite its large size and aggressiveness, reticulated python (especially small island forms) is often found as a terrarium animal. This snake reproduces well in captivity, and several color morphs of reticulated python were obtained and fixed by selection . The maximum life span of a reticulated python in captivity is 23 years (the officially documented record holder Python Setka from the Nikolaev Zoo (Ukraine), born in June 1990 and died of intestinal coprostasis on August 4, 2013) [13] .
Mesh python swallows a chicken
Young reticulated python (captured in captivity of the tiger morph)
- ↑ Ananyeva N. B. , Borkin L. Ya. , Darevsky I.S. , Orlov N.L. Amphibians and reptiles. Latin, Russian, English, German, French. / edited by Acad. V. E. Sokolova . - M .: Rus. Yaz., 1988 .-- S. 276. - 10,500 copies. - ISBN 5-200-00232-X .
- ↑ Blomberg R. Giant Serpents and Scary Lizards
- ↑ World's 'longest snake' comes up short
- ↑ Shine, R., Harlow, PS, & Keogh, JS (1998). The influence of sex and body size on food habits of a giant tropical snake, Python reticulatus . Functional Ecology, 12 (2), 248-258.
- ↑ Tours Travel agent, trip to Komodo Rinca island Tours dives, Flores Overland Tours, sumba Timor Land Tours, Komodo national park, komodo boat trip, (neopr.) . www.eastnusatenggaratours.com. Date of treatment May 8, 2016.
- ↑ Fredriksson, GM (2005). " Predation on Sun Bears by Reticulated Python in East Kalimantan, Indonesian Borneo ." Raffles Bulletin of Zoology 53 (1): 165-168.
- ↑ Selvaraj 2013 Tomistoma (Neopr.) . www.academia.edu. Date of treatment December 28, 2015.
- ↑ 1 2 Buaya 4 Meter Telan Ular Piton Sepanjang 5 Meter di Sungai Kinabatangan - Tribun Jateng (id-ID), Tribun Jateng . Date of treatment December 1, 2017.
- ↑ The Behavioral Ecology of the Komodo Monitor . - Gainesville: University Press of Florida, 1981-11-01. - 406 p. - ISBN 9780813006215 .
- ↑ 爬行 动物 之 争 科莫 多 巨蜥 捕食 花纹 蟒蛇 全程 (图) - 搜狐 IT ( unopened ) . it.sohu.com. Date of treatment December 28, 2015.
- ↑ Giant constrictors: Biological and management profiles and an establishment risk assessment for nine large species of pythons, anacondas, and the boa constrictor. (unspecified) . ResearchGate. Date of treatment December 28, 2015.
- ↑ In Indonesia, a giant python swallowed a woman.
- ↑ Nikolaev Zoological Garden
- Blomberg Ralph. Giant snakes and scary dinosaurs / Per. with swede. L. L. Zhdanova. - M.: Knowledge, 1966. - 64 p.: Ill.
- Darevsky I.S., Orlov N.L. Rare and endangered animals. Amphibians and reptiles: Ref. allowance. - M .: Higher. Shk., 1988 .-- S. 323-324.
- The life of animals in 7 tons / Ch. Editor V.E. Sokolov. T. 5. Amphibians and reptiles. / A. G. Bannikov, I. S. Darevsky, M. N. Denisova and others; under the editorship of A. G. Bannikova - 2nd ed., Rev. - M .: Education, 1985 .-- S. 270.
