Halmahera python
| Halmahera python | ||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Halmahera python ( Simalia tracyae ) |
||||||||||||
| Systematics | ||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||
| Scientific name | ||||||||||||
| Simalia tracyae | ||||||||||||
| ( Harvey , Barker , Ammerman & Chippindale , 2000) |
The Halmahera python ( Simalia tracyae , Syn .: Morelia tracyae ) belongs to the family of the pythons (Pythonidae). The species was only separated from the amethyst python in 2000 . Almost nothing is known about the biology of these snakes, which apparently only live on the northwest arm of Halmahera .
description
Physique and length
The Halmahera python is a slender, but still quite sturdy python. The long tail makes up 19% of the total length. The head is clearly set off from the neck and, in adult females, is clearly broadened. The eyes are on the sides of the head and are directed slightly forward. The rounded, semi-oval snout seen from above is longer in males than in females. The round nostrils sit at an angle between the top of the head and the side of the head. Since the species has only been able to be examined on the basis of a few individuals so far, no data are yet available on the average and maximum length of adults. The largest animal examined so far was a male with a total length of 2.93 meters. However, it is believed that the species can reach a maximum total length of at least 4 meters.
Scaling
The rostral (snout shield), which is only moderately visible from above, has, as with most other pythons, two deep labial pits that extend to the edge of the shield . The nostrils are each positioned in the upper rear part of the large nasal (nasal shield). A clearly recognizable seam runs from the nostril to the rear edge of the shield. Towards the middle of the head, the nasals are separated by a large pair of internasals (intermediate nasal shields ). From the tip of the snout along the midline of the top of the head, the internalsalia are followed by a large, more broad than long anterior pair and a smaller rear pair of prefrontalia (forehead shields). The rear pair of prefrontalia can occasionally be separated from each other by a small shield. This is followed by a simple large frontal (forehead shield) and then two to three pairs of large parietals (crown shields ) that are characteristic of the species. The front half of this is in close contact via the center line of the top of the head, at least in the front half, while the rear half of some animals are separated from each other by two to three small interparietals (shields). The occipitalia (occipital shields) located further towards the neck are small and of the same size as the adjacent nuchealia (neck shields) in this species .
Over the eyes is ever a large triangular Supraoculare (via eye shield). Preocularia (fore eye shields) exist two, postocularia (posterior eye shields) four. Subocularia (under-eye shields) are absent in this species.
On the side of the head between the eye and the nostril there are lorealia (bridle shields) arranged in two rows . Of the 13 supralabials (upper lip shields), the foremost five have deep labial pits on their rear edge, the size of the labial pits decreasing towards the angle of the mouth. Supralabials 6 and 7 also touch the lower edge of the eye. There are 20 infralabialia (lower lip shields ), of which the foremost two weakly recognizable and the pits 9 to 16 deep labial pits. The chin pit consists of shieldless skin.
The number of ventralia (abdominal shields) varies between 316 and 326, the number of dorsal scales in the middle of the body between 47 and 49. From the cloaca to the tip of the tail there are 96 to 100 only partially paired subcaudalia (underside shields of the tail). The anal (anal shield) is divided into two parts.
coloring
Compared to other "amethyst pythons", the Halmahera python is very uniformly colored and patterned. No unpatterned animals are known of this species. The basic color is normally brownish, orange-brown, to red-yellow and can be lightened to a light greenish beige, beige-gray or beige within hours due to environmental factors. Of all amethyst pythons, the Halmahera python has the widest and most clearly pronounced back pattern. Along the body, at intervals of 3 to 7 shields, 48 to 56 dark back patches up to 11 shields wide and 15 shields long run on both sides of the spine. On the first third of the body, the back spots run separately from one another and keep a lightened strip free on the spine of individual individuals. As it progresses, fusions between dorsal spots across the spine increase. The dark flank spots are more numerous, only about two thirds the size of the back spots and are offset from them. Towards the tail, the back and flank patches merge more and more and form mostly continuous rings on the tail 16 to 23. The back and flank patches are framed in black, from dark brown, chocolate brown, dark gray, brown-black to completely black, and become increasingly lighter from the back to the flanks. In animals of the light phase, the black portion of the spots remains constant, only the core changes color to green-brown, reddish-brown to brown. The underside of the body is monochrome gray and white and becomes slightly darker towards the tail. Only on the edge of the abdomen are the dark patches on the flank partially adjacent. The pattern visible on the top of the tail is slightly lightened and merges with the underside of the tail.
The top and side of the head are slightly lighter and more yellow in color than the basic body color. Many of their shields are framed by a fine black line. The lip and chin shields are light yellow or white-gray and have no dark border. The throat is uniformly white-gray. In most animals, an indistinct, dark yellow-brown stripe runs from the forehead to the rear edge of the eye and runs from there as a two to three shields wide band to the corner of the mouth. The contrast of this band is primarily emphasized by the dark edges of the shields affected. A black, well-defined neck band runs over the back of the head from corner to corner of the mouth. This can be interrupted in the middle of the top of the head. Occasionally there is also a second, parallel back neck band or a simple neck patch. Of all amethyst pythons, this species is the only one with a red iris. Each individual is able to adapt his or her iris color to the lightness of the body from dark red-brown, orange-brown or brown to a dark golden-brown or light red-brown. The tongue of this species is solid blue-gray or black.
Color change
The ontogenetic color change is very slight in the Halmahera python. Young animals are only slightly darker in color than adult animals.
Way of life
The way of life of the Halmahera python is still unexplored. So far, only snake catchers from Halmahera could find out that the species is mainly in trees and is occasionally also found on the ground. Very often these pythons are said to stay in the vicinity of fruit bat colonies, on which they also feed. The Halmahera python shares its range only with another giant snake, the reticulated python .
Systematics
The amethyst python was first described by Schneider in 1801 under the scientific name Morelia amethistina . In 1933, Stull assigned subspecies status to the Australian population as Morelia amethistina kinghorni . In 2000, Harvey et al. taking into account morphological, biogeographical and molecular genetic aspects, five distinct species: Morelia amethistina , Morelia kinghorni , Morelia nauta , Morelia clastolepis and Morelia tracyae . All of the amethyst pythons described so far inhabit spatially separated habitats ( allopatry ). It is assumed, however, that further species can be differentiated among the species described so far, some of which even inhabit the same areas ( sympatry ). This is particularly suspected in New Guinea and New Ireland .
It is believed that an ancient form of the amethyst python once lived on the emerging New Guinea. Millions of years ago, in a first phase, the islands of Halmahera and New Ireland separated from New Guinea by deep straits, which completely isolated the amethyst python populations there. During later ice ages , land bridges formed between New Guinea and neighboring islands as well as the Australian mainland due to the low sea level. In a second phase, amethyst pythons colonized the D'Entrecasteaux Islands , the Louisiade archipelago and Aru . Seram , Ambon , Yapen , the coastal islands of the Torres Strait and Northern Australia. In a third phase, these pythons were able to use driftwood to get from Aru to the neighboring island of Kai , and those from Yapen to the neighboring island of Biak . The Tanimbar Islands also never had contact with other land masses, which means that precursors of this population must also have colonized the islands by water. Since New Guinea also changed significantly geotectonically, the original form of the amethyst python could still differentiate itself locally.
These pythons are most closely related to the Boelen python ( Morelia boeleni ). The characteristic commonality of amethyst and Boelen pythons is the presence of at least two pairs of large apex shields. In 1984, Wells & Wellington proposed separating amethyst pythons from diamond pythons ( Morelia ) as an independent genus called Australiasis .
The genus name Australiasis is invalid, however, because the genus was described in a journal that does not carry out a peer review process. At the beginning of 2014, the generic name Simalia (Gray, 1849) was therefore introduced for a new genus composed of the Boelen python, the Oenpelli python and the amethyst pythons.
According to Harvey et al. (2000) and Reynolds et al. (2014) as follows:
| Simalia |
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|
Simalia tracyae received the specific epithet tracyae in honor of Tracy M. Barker. Together with her husband David G. Barker, she has been an expert in the field of breeding and keeping rare giant snakes for years . Their large amethyst python collection, which has existed for over 10 years, played a key role in the description of the five amethyst python species by Harvey et al. Contributed in 2000.
swell
Individual evidence
- ^ RW Wells, CR Wellington: A classification of the Amphibia and Reptilia of Australia . Australian Journal of Herpetology, Supplementary Series, Issue 1, 1984 pp. 1–61, full text ( page no longer available , search in web archives ) Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ Hinrich Kaiser, Brian I. Crother, Christopher MR Kelly, Luca Luiselli, Mark O´Shea, Hidetoshi Ota, Paulo Passos, Wulf D. Schleip, Wolfgang Wüster: Best Practices: In the 21st Century, Taxonomic Decisions in Herpetology are Acceptable Only When Supported by a Body of Evidence and Published via Peer Review. In: Herpetological Review, 2013, 44 (1), 8–23 .. 44, 2013, pp. 8–23.
- ^ 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
literature
- MB Harvey, DG Barker, LK Ammerman, PT Chippindale: Systematics of Pythons of the Morelia amethistina Complex (Serpentes: Boidae) with the Description of three new Species. Herpetological Monographs 14, 2000, pp. 139-185.