Diamond pythons
| Diamond pythons | ||||||||||||
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Green tree python ( Morelia viridis ) |
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| Systematics | ||||||||||||
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| Scientific name | ||||||||||||
| Morelia | ||||||||||||
| Gray , 1842 |
The diamond pythons ( Morelia ) are a genus of mostly medium-sized snakes, but very large species are also known.
description
The New Guinea carpet python ( Morelia spilota harrisoni ) is one of the smaller species (average 130–150 cm), while the diamond python ( Morelia spilota ) can reach a total length of over 4 m. The head is clearly separated from the neck in all species of the genus. The scales are small and smooth, only keeled in one species of the genus, Morelia carinata . The color varies from yellow, yellow-brown, gray-black to emerald green. The representatives of the genus Morelia , like all pythons (with the exception of members of the genus Aspidites ), have thermosensory labial pits . These are located in a row of scales along the upper and lower lip.
distribution
The members of the genus Morelia colonize Australia , Indonesia and Papua New Guinea . The pythons colonize a variety of habitats and microhabitats , for example Morelia boeleni can be found in the highland rainforests of Papua New Guinea and West Papua, whereas Morelia bredli is native to the hot arid regions around the town of Alice Springs in central Australia. The diamond python Morelia spilota spilota is the most southern member of the Pythonidae family . You can find him at the height of Sydney .
Species list
The genus Morelia includes five species:
- Morelia azurea
- Central Australian python ( Morelia bredli )
- Rough Scale Python ( Morelia carinata )
- Diamond python ( Morelia spilota )
- Green tree python ( Morelia viridis )
Six other species, the so-called "amethyst pythons", were previously assigned to the genus Morelia , but have been included in the genus Simalia since the beginning of 2014 . The following cladogram shows the internal systematics of the pythons and shows the position of the diamond pythons as a sister group of the southern pythons ( Antaresia ):
| Pythonidae |
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Protection status
All species of the genus Morelia are listed in Appendix II of the Washington Convention on Endangered Species . This means that the import and export of animals must be approved. Furthermore, animals that are kept privately must be registered with the competent authority (municipality and lower nature conservation authority).
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Individual evidence
- ^ Morelia in The Reptile Database
- ↑ Daniel JDNatusch, Damien Esquerré, Jessica A. Lyons, Amir Hamidy, Alan R. Lemmon, Emily Moriarty Lemmon, Awal Riyanto, J.Scott Keogh, StephenDonnellan: Species delimitation and systematics of the green pythons (Morelia viridis complex) of Melanesia and Australia. Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution, October 2019, 106640 doi: 10.1016 / j.ympev.2019.106640
- ^ A b R. Graham Reynolds, Matthew L. Niemiller, Liam J. Revell: Toward a Tree-of-Life for the boas and pythons: Multilocus species-level phylogeny with unprecedented taxon sampling. Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution, Volume 71, February 2014, Pages 201-213, doi: 10.1016 / j.ympev.2013.11.011
- ^ Simalia in The Reptile Database