Python kyaiktiyo
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| Zug , Gotte , & Jacobs , 2011 |
Python kyaiktiyo is a species of python that is believed to be isolated on the western side of the Tenghyo Mountains in Myanmar . It was only in 2011 from a single female described , the 2002 Burmese -Mon State in a small, dry creek bed near a small Betelnusspalmen was caught -Plantage. The species was named after the Golden Rock Pagoda ( Kyaiktiyo in Burmese )near the town of Kyaikto in Mon state, one of the holiest Buddhist sites in Myanmar.
features
The holotype , a fully grown female, was 1.52 meters long and weighed 3.6 kg. The head is 6.8 cm long and 4 cm wide and the tail is 11.8 cm long. The snake is light brown in color with a rusty tone on the back two thirds of the body. The head is yellowish-brown, the underside of the lower jaw, the throat and the ventral side are whitish to cream-colored. The top of the head is yellowish in color. The rein shields (Lorealia) and adjoining supralabials are diffuse brown, the sides of the head are dark brown and separated from the brown snout by a white diagonal line. The brown color of the head side continues on the front trunk and is separated from the light belly side by a white stripe. This brown color dissolves further back into a series of brown spots, which become larger and increasingly rusty brown. In the rear third of the body, the spots become smaller again, have an increasingly larger distance and are more and more anterior. On the back there is a rust-brown band that becomes increasingly wider towards the back. The tail is solid dark brown above and on the sides, on its underside there are three brown spots.
Like all pythons, Python kyaiktiyo reproduces by laying eggs ( oviparity ), the fallopian tubes of the holotype contained six eggs measuring 6 × 9 cm.
Systematics
Python kyaiktiyo belongs to the short-tailed pythons ( Python curtus -species group) and is therefore most closely related to the blood python ( P. brongersmai ), the Borneo ( P. broadsteini ) and Sumatran short-tailed python ( P. curtus ). From the three related species, Python kyaiktiyo differs in the larger number (180 or more) of the ventral scales arranged in a row , the presence of brownish eye spots on the dorsal center line and from the Borneo and Sumatran short-tailed python also the presence of a supraocular between the eye and Upper lip shields .
Hazard and protection
The IUCN leads Python kyaiktiyo on the Red List of Threatened Species as endangered because despite several investigations in the area of distribution no other animal could be found than the holotype. This suggests a very small stock. All pythons are hunted for meat suppliers and for making leather and traditional medicine. Due to its rarity, the python kyaiktiyo will also be of great interest to the international pet trade.
Like most pythons, python kyaiktiyo is protected by the Washington Convention . It is listed there in Appendix II, so import permits are required. Export from Myanmar is prohibited by national law.
literature
- George R. Zug, Steve W. Gotte, & Jeremy F. Jacobs: Pythons in Burma: Short-tailed python (Reptilia: Squamata) Proceedings of the Biological Society of Washington 124 (2): 112-136. 2011 doi : 10.2988 / 10-34.1
Individual evidence
- ↑ Python kyaiktiyo in the endangered Red List species the IUCN 2012. Posted by: Wogan, G. & Chan-Ard, T., 2012th
