Indian python
{{Short description|Species of snake}}
{{Distinguish|Burmese python}}
{{About||other uses of "rock python"|Rock python (disambiguation){{!}}Rock python}}
{{Speciesbox
| image = Pratik jain dahod python.JPG
| image_caption = Near Nagarhole National Park
| status = NT
| status_system = IUCN3.1
| genus = Python
| species = molurus
| authority = (Linnaeus, 1758){{Cite book |last=Linnaeus |first=C. |title=Systema naturae per regna tria naturae: secundum classes, ordines, genera, species, cum characteribus, differentiis, synonymis, locis |location=Holmiae |publisher=Laurentii Salvii |year=1758 |volume=1 |edition= Tenth reformed |page=225 |chapter=Coluber molurus |chapter-url=https://archive.org/details/carolilinnisys00linn/page/225}}
| range_map = Python molurus Area.svg
| range_map_caption = Distribution of Indian python
| synonyms = * Boa molura {{small|Linnaeus, 1758}}
- Boa ordinata {{small|Schneider, 1801}}
- Boa cinerae {{small|Schneider, 1801}}
- Boa castanea {{small|Schneider, 1801}}
- Boa albicans {{small|Schneider, 1801}}
- Boa orbiculata {{small|Schneider, 1801}}
- Coluber boaeformis {{small|Shaw, 1802}}
- Python bora {{small|Daudin, 1803}}
- Python tigris {{small|Daudin, 1803}}
- Python ordinatus {{small|Daudin, 1803}}
- Python javanicus {{small|Kuhl, 1820}}
- Python jamesonii {{small|Gray, 1842}}
- Python (Asterophis) tigris {{small|Fitzinger, 1843}}
}}
The Indian python (Python molurus) is a large python species native to tropical and subtropical regions of the Indian subcontinent and Southeast Asia.{{cite book |last1=McDiarmid |first1=R. W. |last2=Campbell |first2=J. A. |last3=Touré |first3=T. |year=1999 |title=Snake Species of the World: A Taxonomic and Geographic Reference. Volume 1 |location=Washington, DC |publisher=Herpetologists' League |isbn=1893777014 |chapter=Python }} It is also known by the common names black-tailed python,{{cite book |last1=Ditmars, R. L. |year=1933 |title=Reptiles of the World |edition= Revised |publisher=The MacMillan Company}} Indian rock python, and Asian rock python.{{cite book |last1=Walls, J. G. |year=1998 |title=The Living Pythons |publisher=T. F. H. Publications |isbn=0-7938-0467-1 |pages=131–142}}{{cite book |last1=O'Shea, M. |year=2007 |title=Boas and Pythons of the World |publisher=New Holland Publishers |isbn=978-1-84537-544-7 |pages=80–87}} Although smaller than its close relative the Burmese python, it is still among the largest snakes in the world. It is generally lighter colored than the Burmese python and reaches usually {{cvt|3|m|ftin}}. Like all pythons, it is nonvenomous.
Description
File:Labial Pits of P molorus.JPG
The rock python's color pattern is whitish or yellowish with the blotched patterns varying from tan to dark brown shades. This varies with terrain and habitat. Specimens from the hill forests of Western Ghats and Assam are darker, while those from the Deccan Plateau and Eastern Ghats are usually lighter.{{cite book |author=Whitaker, R. |year=2006 |title=Common Indian Snakes – A Field Guide |publisher=The Macmillan Company of India Limited |isbn=9781403929556 |edition=revised |pages=6–9}} All pythons are non-venomous.
The nominate subspecies occurring in India typically grows to {{cvt|3|m|ftin}}.{{Cite journal |first=F. |last=Wall |title=A popular treatise on the common Indian snakes – The Indian Python |journal=Journal of the Bombay Natural History Society |volume=21 |year=1912 |pages=[https://archive.org/details/populartreatiseo00wall/page/447 447]–476 |url=https://archive.org/details/populartreatiseo00wall}} This value is supported by a 1990 study in Keoladeo National Park, where 25% of the python population was {{cvt|2.7|-|3.3|m|ftin}} long. Two individuals even measured nearly {{cvt|3.6|m|ftin}}.{{Cite journal |first=S. |last=Bhupathy |title=Blotch structure in individual identification of the Indian Python (Python molurus molurus) and its possible usage in population estimation |journal=Journal of the Bombay Natural History Society |volume=87 |issue=3 |year=1990 |pages=399–404}}
Because of confusion with the Burmese python, exaggerations, and stretched skins in the past, the maximum length of this subspecies is difficult to tell. The longest scientifically recorded specimen, collected in Pakistan, was {{cvt|4.6|m|ftin}} long and weighed {{cvt|52|kg|lboz}}. In Pakistan, Indian pythons commonly reach a length of {{cvt|2.4|-|3.0|m|ftin}}.{{Cite journal |first=S. A. |last=Minton |title=A contribution to the herpetology of West Pakistan |journal=Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History |volume=134 |issue=2 |year=1966 |pages=117–118 |hdl=2246/1129 |url=http://digitallibrary.amnh.org/dspace/handle/2246/1129}}
The Indian python differs from the Burmese python (Python bivittatus) in the following ways:
- the presence of light "eyes" in the centers of spots located on the sides of the trunk
- reddish or pinkish color of light stripes on the sides of the head
- a diamond-shaped spot on the head blurred in the front part
- usually lighter in color, dominated by brown, reddish-brown, yellowish-brown and grayish-brown tones
- usually prefers a drier, more arid environment, unlike P. bivittatus, which inhabits moist, meadow environments[https://www.markoshea.info/oba3-2_india01.php Mark O'Shea — The quest species — Indian rock python & Burmese rock python]
Distribution and habitat
The Indian python occurs in nearly all of the Indian Subcontinent south of the Himalayas, including southern Nepal and Bhutan, Sri Lanka, southeastern Pakistan, Bangladesh, and probably in northern Myanmar.{{cite book |author1=Whitaker, R. |author2=Captain, A. |year=2004 |pages=3, 12, 78–81 |title=Snakes of India. The field guide |publisher=Draco Books |location=Chennai, India |isbn=81-901873-0-9}} It lives in a wide range of habitats, including grasslands, swamps, marshes, rocky foothills, woodlands, open forest, and river valleys. It needs a reliable source of water.{{cite book |author1=Mehrtens, J. M. |year=1987 |title=Living Snakes of the World in Color |location=New York |publisher=Sterling Publishers |isbn=0-8069-6460-X |url-access=registration |url=https://archive.org/details/livingsnakesofwo00mehr}} It hides in abandoned mammal burrows, hollow trees, dense water reeds, and mangrove thickets.
Behavior
File:Indian python Python molurus.jpg]]
Lethargic and slow moving even in their native habitat, they exhibit timidity and rarely try to attack even when attacked. Locomotion is usually with the body moving in a straight line, by "walking on its ribs". They are excellent swimmers and are quite at home in water. They can be wholly submerged in water for many minutes if necessary, but usually prefer to remain near the bank.
=Feeding=
File:MNP Python at Moyer.jpg in Mudumalai National Park]]
Like all snakes, Indian pythons are strict carnivores and feed on mammals, birds, reptiles, and amphibians indiscriminately, but seem to prefer mammals.{{cite web | url=https://animaldiversity.org/accounts/Python_molurus/ | title=Python molurus (Indian Python) | website=Animal Diversity Web }} Roused to activity on sighting prey, the snake advances with a quivering tail and lunges with an open mouth. Live prey is constricted and killed. One or two coils are used to hold it in a tight grip. The prey, unable to breathe, succumbs and is subsequently swallowed head first. After a heavy meal, they are disinclined to move. If forced to, hard parts of the meal may tear through the body. Therefore, if disturbed, some specimens disgorge their meal to escape from potential predators. After a heavy meal, an individual may fast for weeks, the longest recorded duration being 2 years. The python can swallow prey bigger than its diameter because its jaw bones are not connected. Moreover, prey cannot escape from its mouth because of the arrangement of the teeth (which are reverse saw-like).{{cn|date=November 2021}}
=Reproduction=
File:Clutch of Python molurus eggs.JPG
File:Juvenile Indian Rock Python ( P molurus) in a pensive moment.JPG
Oviparous, up to 100 eggs are laid by a female, which she protects and incubates. Towards this end, they are capable of raising their body temperature above the ambient level through muscular contractions.{{Cite journal |first1=V. H. |last1=Hutchison |first2=H. G. |last2=Dowling |name-list-style=amp |first3=A. |last3=Vinegar |year=1966 |title=Thermoregulation in a Brooding Female Indian Python, Python molurus bivittatus |journal=Science |volume=151 |issue=3711 |pages=694–695 |doi=10.1126/science.151.3711.694|pmid=5908075 |bibcode=1966Sci...151..694H |s2cid=45839432 }} The hatchlings are {{cvt|45|-|60|cm|in}} in length and grow quickly. An artificial incubation method using climate-controlled environmental chambers was developed in India for successfully raising hatchlings from abandoned or unattended eggs.{{cite journal |last1=Balakrishnan |first1=P- |last2=Sajeev |first2=T.V. |last3=Bindu |first3=T.N. |title=Artificial incubation, hatching and release of the Indian Rock Python Python molurus (Linnaeus, 1758), in Nilambur, Kerala |journal=Reptile Rap |date=2010 |volume=10 |pages=24–27 |url=http://www.tropicalecology.in/pdf/Python%20molurus_incubation_Peroth%20Balakrishnan%20et%20al_Reptile%20Rap%202010.pdf |access-date=2014-10-25 |archive-date=2018-08-27 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180827220044/http://www.tropicalecology.in/pdf/Python%20molurus_incubation_Peroth%20Balakrishnan%20et%20al_Reptile%20Rap%202010.pdf |url-status=dead }}
Conservation status
The Indian python is classified as Near Threatened on the IUCN Red List due to a likely population decline of ~30% over the decade 2010–2020, caused by habitat loss, over-exploitation, and lack of conservation actions.
A genetic study published in 2017 showed that the Burmese pythons in Florida are hybrids with P. molurus.{{Cite journal|last1=Hunter|first1=Margaret E.|last2=Johnson|first2=Nathan A.|last3=Smith|first3=Brian J.|last4=Davis|first4=Michelle C.|last5=Butterfield|first5=John S. S.|last6=Snow|first6=Ray W.|last7=Hart|first7=Kristen M.|date=2017-08-02|title=Cytonuclear discordance in the Florida Everglades invasive Burmese python (Python bivittatus) population reveals possible hybridization with the Indian python (P. molurus) |journal=Ecology and Evolution |volume=8 |issue=17 |pages=9034–9047 |doi=10.1002/ece3.4423 |pmid=30271564 |pmc=6157680}}
Taxonomy
In the literature, one other subspecies may be encountered: P. m. pimbura Deraniyagala, 1945, which is found in Sri Lanka.
The Burmese python (P. bivittatus) was referred to as a subspecies of the Indian python until 2009, when it was elevated to full species status.{{cite journal
| last1 =Jacobs
| first1 =H.J.
|last2=Auliya|first2=M.|last3=Böhme|first3=W.
| title =On the taxonomy of the Burmese Python, Python molurus bivittatus KUHL, 1820, specifically on the Sulawesi population
| journal =Sauria
| volume =31
| issue =3
| pages =5–11
| year =2009
}} The name Python molurus bivittatus is found in older literature.
In culture
Kaa, a large and old Indian python, is featured as one of Mowgli's mentors in Rudyard Kipling's 1894 collection The Jungle Book.
==References==
{{Reflist}}
Further reading
{{Refbegin}}
- {{cite book | author=Whitaker R. | title=Common Indian Snakes: A Field Guide | publisher=Macmillan India Limited | year=1978 | author-link= Romulus Whitaker }}
- Daniel, JC. The Book Of Indian Snakes and Reptiles. Bombay Natural History Society
{{Refend}}
External links
{{Commons}}
- {{NRDB species|genus=Python|species=molurus|date=13 September|year=2007}}
- [https://web.archive.org/web/20070611182948/http://www.ecologyasia.com/verts/snakes/indian_python.htm Indian Python] at [http://ecologyasia.com/ Ecology Asia]. Accessed 13 September 2007.
- [http://animalpicturesarchive.com/list.php?qry=Indian%20python Indian python] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120504063352/http://animalpicturesarchive.com/list.php?qry=Indian%20python |date=2012-05-04 }} at [http://animalpicturesarchive.com/ Animal Pictures Archive]. Accessed 13 September 2007.
- [http://www.bbc.co.uk/nature/species/Python_molurus Watch Indian rock python (Python molurus) video clips from the BBC archive on Wildlife Finder]
{{Pythonidae}}
{{Taxonbar|from=Q245183}}
{{Authority control}}
Category:Reptiles described in 1758
Category:Reptiles of Southeast Asia
Category:Reptiles of Bangladesh
Category:Reptiles of Sri Lanka