Brown water python

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Brown water python
The Australian zoologist (1954) (20164200949) .jpg

Brown water python ( Liasis fuscus )

Systematics
without rank: Toxicofera
Subordination : Snakes (serpentes)
Superfamily : Python-like (Pythonoidea)
Family : Pythons (Pythonidae)
Genre : Water pythons ( liasis )
Type : Brown water python
Scientific name
Liasis fuscus
Peters , 1873

The brown water python ( Liasis fuscus , Latin fuscus - brown, dark) is a species of snake from the python family . Some authors do not distinguish the species from the Timor water python ( Liasis mackloti ).

features

With a length of 1.5 to 2 meters, in individual cases up to 3 meters, the brown water python belongs to the medium-sized pythons . The elongated head is only indistinctly set off from the neck. The head and back are brown to gray-green, in specimens from New Guinea dark brown to black. The chin and throat are white, the underside of the body is light gray to yellow. The subspecies Liasis fuscus jackyae differs from the nominate subspecies Liasis fuscus fuscus in that the upper lip shields are darker. A prehensile tail is missing.

The frontal and supraocular shields are large. Each side of the head a great per are Loreal- and Postokularschild and two small Postokularschilde present. There are two pairs of prefrontal and two pairs of parietal shields and one pair of interparietal shields. The internasal shield is divided by a small shield belonging to the rostral. There are ten to twelve supralabial shields , of which the fifth and sixth touch the edge of the eye, and 14 to 17 infralabial shields , of which three to four bear heat pits. The trunk has 45 to 48 rows of scales , 271 to 286 ventral shields , 72 to 89 paired sub-caudal shields and an undivided anal shield .

distribution and habitat

The brown water python occurs in New Guinea , in tropical northern Australia, as well as on Cornwallis Island and Sir Charles Hardy Island . The species is always found in the vicinity of freshwater and is absent in permanently dry areas.

Way of life and reproduction

The brown water python is primarily nocturnal and hides under plants or in crevices during the day. Small mammals, birds, small reptiles and young crocodiles serve as prey. The species is considered to be less aggressive and prefers to flee into the water when threatened.

The mating season is in the dry season from July to August, with the males wrestling and biting to fight for the females. The pregnant females do not eat any food for about a month before they lay eggs. The clutches of 3 to 24 eggs are preferably deposited in abandoned holes in the ground by monitor lizards or under tree roots. When laying under tree roots, the females show brood care by laying around the eggs and partially warming them by trembling. The approximately 30 cm long young hatch after about two months.

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