''Python brongersmai'' is a

species In biology, a species is the basic unit of Taxonomy (biology), classification and a taxonomic rank of an organism, as well as a unit of biodiversity. A species is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of ...

of non

venomous snake Venomous snakes are species of the suborder Serpentes that are capable of producing venom, which they use for killing prey, for defense, and to assist with digestion of their prey. The venom is typically delivered by injection using hollow or ...

in the

family Family (from la, familia) is a group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or affinity (by marriage or other relationship). The purpose of the family is to maintain the well-being of its members and of society. Idea ...

Pythonidae The Pythonidae, commonly known as pythons, are a family of nonvenomous snakes found in Africa, Asia, and Australia. Among its members are some of the largest snakes in the world. Ten genera and 42 species are currently recognized. Distributi ...

. The species is native to

Southeast Asia Southeast Asia, also spelled South East Asia and South-East Asia, and also known as Southeastern Asia, South-eastern Asia or SEA, is the geographical United Nations geoscheme for Asia#South-eastern Asia, south-eastern region of Asia, consistin ...

Common names

Common name In biology, a common name of a taxon or organism (also known as a vernacular name, English name, colloquial name, country name, popular name, or farmer's name) is a name that is based on the normal language of everyday life; and is often contra ...

s for ''P. brongersmai'' include blood python, Brongersma's short-tailed python, Malaysian blood python, red blood python, red short-tailed python, and Sumatran blood python.

Etymology

The specific name, ''brongersmai'', is in honor of

Dutch Dutch commonly refers to: * Something of, from, or related to the Netherlands * Dutch people () * Dutch language () Dutch may also refer to: Places * Dutch, West Virginia, a community in the United States * Pennsylvania Dutch Country People E ...

herpetologist Herpetology (from Greek ἑρπετόν ''herpetón'', meaning " reptile" or "creeping animal") is the branch of zoology concerned with the study of amphibians (including frogs, toads, salamanders, newts, and caecilians (gymnophiona)) and r ...

Leo Brongersma Leo Daniel Brongersma (17 May 1907 in Bloemendaal, North Holland – 24 July 1994 in Leiden) was a Dutch zoologist, herpetologist, author, and lecturer. Brongersma was born in Bloemendaal, North Holland, and earned his PhD at the University of ...

Geographic range

''P. brongersmai'' is found in peninsular (Western)

Malaysia Malaysia ( ; ) is a country in Southeast Asia. The federation, federal constitutional monarchy consists of States and federal territories of Malaysia, thirteen states and three federal territories, separated by the South China Sea into two r ...

, Sumatra east of the central dividing range of mountains,

Bangka Island Bangka is an island lying east of Sumatra, Indonesia. It is administered under the province of the Bangka Belitung Islands, being one of its namesakes alongside the smaller island of Belitung across the Gaspar Strait. The 9th largest island in I ...

and other islands in the

Strait of Malacca The Strait of Malacca is a narrow stretch of water, 500 mi (800 km) long and from 40 to 155 mi (65–250 km) wide, between the Malay Peninsula (Peninsular Malaysia) to the northeast and the Indonesian island of Sumatra to the southwest, conn ...

, including the

Lingga Islands The Lingga Regency ( id, Kabupaten Lingga) is a group of islands in Indonesia, located south of Singapore, along both sides of the equator, off the eastern coast of Riau Province on Sumatra island. They are south of the populated Riau Archipe ...

Riau islands The Riau Islands ( id, Kepulauan Riau) is a province of Indonesia. It comprises a total of 1,796 islands scattered between Sumatra, Malay Peninsula, and Borneo including the Riau Archipelago. Situated on one of the world's busiest shipping l ...

, and Pinang,

Thailand Thailand ( ), historically known as Siam () and officially the Kingdom of Thailand, is a country in Southeast Asia, located at the centre of the Indochinese Peninsula, spanning , with a population of almost 70 million. The country is b ...

, and

Vietnam Vietnam or Viet Nam ( vi, Việt Nam, ), officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam,., group="n" is a country in Southeast Asia, at the eastern edge of mainland Southeast Asia, with an area of and population of 96 million, making it ...

Habitat

The preferred natural

habitat In ecology, the term habitat summarises the array of resources, physical and biotic factors that are present in an area, such as to support the survival and reproduction of a particular species. A species habitat can be seen as the physical ...

of ''P. brongersmai'' is

marsh A marsh is a wetland that is dominated by herbaceous rather than woody plant species.Keddy, P.A. 2010. Wetland Ecology: Principles and Conservation (2nd edition). Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK. 497 p Marshes can often be found a ...

es and

tropical The tropics are the regions of Earth surrounding the Equator. They are defined in latitude by the Tropic of Cancer in the Northern Hemisphere at N and the Tropic of Capricorn in the Southern Hemisphere at S. The tropics are also referred to ...

swamps in

forest A forest is an area of land dominated by trees. Hundreds of definitions of forest are used throughout the world, incorporating factors such as tree density, tree height, land use, legal standing, and ecological function. The United Nations' ...

, at altitudes from sea level to .

Behaviour

''Python brongersmai'' is a primarily

crepuscular In zoology, a crepuscular animal is one that is active primarily during the twilight period, being matutinal, vespertine, or both. This is distinguished from diurnal and nocturnal behavior, where an animal is active during the hours of dayli ...

species (usually active around

dawn Dawn is the time that marks the beginning of twilight before sunrise. It is recognized by the appearance of indirect sunlight being scattered in Earth's atmosphere, when the centre of the Sun's disc has reached 18° below the observer's ho ...

and

dusk Dusk occurs at the darkest stage of twilight, or at the very end of astronomical twilight after sunset and just before nightfall.''The Random House College Dictionary'', "dusk". At predusk, during early to intermediate stages of twilight, enou ...

Size

Hatchlings of ''P. brongersmai'' range from in total length (including tail). Adult males typically range from in total length, and females between although a few have been recorded at . These snakes generally look overweight due to their robust structure.

Lifespan

''P. brongersmai'' can live up to about 20 years in captivity.

Coloration

The color pattern of ''P. brongersmai'' consists of rich, bright red to orange to a duller rusty red ground color, although populations with yellow and brown are known. This is overlaid with yellow and tan blotches and stripes that run the length of the body, as well as tan and black spots that extend up the flanks. The belly is white, often with small black markings. The head is usually a shade of grey; individual snakes can change how light and dark the head is. A white postocular stripe runs down and back from the posterior edge of the eye.

Reproduction

''Python brongersmai'' is

oviparous Oviparous animals are animals that lay their eggs, with little or no other embryonic development within the mother. This is the reproductive method of most fish, amphibians, most reptiles, and all pterosaurs, dinosaurs (including birds), a ...

, with up to 30 eggs being laid at a time. The female coils around her eggs and shivers her body, producing heat to incubate the eggs properly.

Commercial trade

Once widely considered to be generally unpredictable and aggressive, ''P. brongersmai'' is gradually becoming more common among herpetoculturists. Formerly, many of the specimens in captivity were wild-caught adults from

. These are known to be more aggressive than those from

Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania between the Indian and Pacific oceans. It consists of over 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, Java, Sulawesi, and parts of Borneo and New Guine ...

( Sumatra), from which most of the wild-caught, wild-bred, and captive-bred stock are now descended. Captive-raised juveniles generally become mild-tempered, somewhat-predictable adults. This, combined with several new brightly colored captive bloodlines, is helping to boost the popularity of these much-maligned snakes among reptile hobbyists. ''Python brongersmai'' is part of a commercial harvest for leather. There is evidence to suggest that there are clear indications of misdeclared, underreported and illegal trade involving tens of thousands of blood pythons, and there are questions whether this trade is sustainable

Taxonomy

This species was first described by

Olive Griffith Stull Olive Griffith Stull (Davis) (February 10, 1905 – June 15, 1969) was an American herpetologist. Stull was born in Rochester, New York. She married Loy Davis in 1930, one year after completing her degree at the University of Michigan. She wor ...

in 1938 as ''Python curtus brongersmai'', a subspecies of ''

Python curtus The Sumatran short-tailed python (''Python curtus'') is a species of the family Pythonidae, a nonvenomous snake native to Sumatra. Taxonomy ''Python curtus'' was the scientific name proposed by Hermann Schlegel in 1872 for a python with a shor ...

''. Stull OG (1938). "Three New Subspecies of the Family Boidae".
''Occasional Papers of the Boston Society of Natural History'' 8: 297-300.
(''Python curtus brongersmai'', new subspecies, pp. 297-298). This

taxon In biology, a taxon ( back-formation from '' taxonomy''; plural taxa) is a group of one or more populations of an organism or organisms seen by taxonomists to form a unit. Although neither is required, a taxon is usually known by a particular n ...

has since been elevated and recognised as a full species, ''Python brongersmai'', by Pauwels et al. (2000).