Python anchietae
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Python anchietae (with common names Angolan python and Anchieta's dwarf python)[1] 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,[1] and no subspecies are currently recognized.[2] It is named after the Portuguese naturalist and explorer José Alberto de Oliveira Anchieta.[3] Like all other pythons, it is not venomous.
Description
Python 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.[1] 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.[4]
Distribution and habitat
Python anchietae is found in Africa in southern Angola and northern Namibia. The type locality given is "Catumbella [Catumbela]" near Lobito, Angola.[5][2] Habitats are rocky outcrops or areas strewn with rocks in open brush or grassland.[1] Diurnal, they shelter in small caves, overhangs and crevices.
Behaviour and biology
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Python anchietae exhibits hisses, which are mostly bluff.[1] Its diet consists of small mammals and birds.[1] It is oviparous, with small clutches of four to five eggs being produced at a time. Hatchlings are Template:Cvtlong.[1]
References
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- ↑ a b c d e f g Mehrtens JM (1987). Living Snakes of the World in Color. New York: Sterling Publishers. 480 pp. Template:ISBN.
- ↑ 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. Template:ISBN. (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).
- ↑ Cite error: Script error: No such module "Namespace detect".Script error: No such module "Namespace detect".
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Further reading
- 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).