A large 4-metre specimen, Southern
Highlands Province, PNG.
Family : PYTHONIDAE
Species : Apodora papuana
Maximum Size : 4.3 metres
References : H6
Photos : Anon |
One of the largest of
Papua New Guinea's snakes, the Papuan Olive Python is a species of
rainforests and savanna.
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The head is short and blunt,
and possesses large, unfragmented scales.
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Its body is thick and
stocky, and reaches over 4 metres in length. The head is short and blunt,
and slightly wider than the body.
Dorsal scale colour is of various tones of brown or
grey-brown,
and is lighter on the lower flanks and darker on the higher flanks and upper
surface. The underside is lighter in colour, as are the lips, chin and
throat. The eyes are medium in size, with vertical pupils. Some specimens
may possess a dark stripe behind the eye.
Its diet comprises mainly mammals : typically pythons
will identify by scent the regular pathway of a forest floor mammal, and then
wait in ambush for an opportune moment to strike its passing prey.
The Papuan Olive Python is
widely distributed in mainland Papua New Guinea and a few offshore islands.
It also ranges westwards to the Indonesian province of Papua (formerly Irian
Jaya). |
