The Pythonidae, commonly known as pythons, are a
family of
nonvenomous
Venom or zootoxin is a type of toxin produced by an animal that is actively delivered through a wound by means of a bite, sting, or similar action. The toxin is delivered through a specially evolved ''venom apparatus'', such as fangs or a sti ...
snakes found in Africa, Asia, and Australia. Among its members are some of the largest snakes in the world. Ten
genera
Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms as well as viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus comes above species and below family. In binomial nomenclat ...
and 42
species are currently recognized.
Distribution and habitat
Pythons are found in
sub-Saharan Africa
Sub-Saharan Africa is, geographically, the area and regions of the continent of Africa that lies south of the Sahara. These include West Africa, East Africa, Central Africa, and Southern Africa. Geopolitically, in addition to the List of sov ...
,
Nepal,
India,
Bangladesh,
Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka (, ; si, ශ්රී ලංකා, Śrī Laṅkā, translit-std=ISO (); ta, இலங்கை, Ilaṅkai, translit-std=ISO ()), formerly known as Ceylon and officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, is an ...
,
Southeast Asia, southeastern
Pakistan, southern
China
China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...
, the
Philippines and
Australia
Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...
.
[
In the United States, an introduced population of ]Burmese python
The Burmese python (''Python bivittatus'') is one of the largest species of snakes. It is native to a large area of Southeast Asia and is listed as Vulnerable on the IUCN Red List. Until 2009, it was considered a subspecies of the Indian python ...
s, ''Python bivittatus'', has existed as an invasive species
An invasive species otherwise known as an alien is an introduced organism that becomes overpopulated and harms its new environment. Although most introduced species are neutral or beneficial with respect to other species, invasive species ad ...
in the Everglades National Park since the late 1990s.
Common names
* Sinhala - පිඹුරා (''Pimbura'')
* Telugu - కొండచిలువ (Kondachiluva)
*Odia
Odia, also spelled Oriya or Odiya, may refer to:
* Odia people in Odisha, India
* Odia language, an Indian language, belonging to the Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European language family
* Odia alphabet, a writing system used for the Odia languag ...
- ଅଜଗର (Ajagara)
* Malayalam - പെരുമ്പാമ്പ് (perumpāmp)
* Hindi - अजगर ('Ajgar')
Conservation
Many species have been hunted aggressively, which has greatly reduced the population of some, such as the Indian python, ''Python molurus''.
Behavior
Most members of this family are ambush predators, in that they typically remain motionless in a camouflaged position, and then strike suddenly at passing prey. Attacks on humans, although known to occur, are extremely rare.
Feeding
Pythons use their sharp, backward-curving teeth, four rows in the upper jaw, two in the lower, to grasp prey which is then killed by constriction; after an animal has been grasped to restrain it, the python quickly wraps a number of coils around it. Death occurs primarily by cardiac arrest.
Larger specimens usually eat animals about the size of a house cat, but larger food items are known; some large Asian species have been known to take down adult deer, and the African rock python, ''Python sebae'', has been known to eat antelope
The term antelope is used to refer to many species of even-toed ruminant that are indigenous to various regions in Africa and Eurasia.
Antelope comprise a wastebasket taxon defined as any of numerous Old World grazing and browsing hoofed mammals ...
. In 2017, there was a recorded case of a human devoured by a python in Sulawesi
Sulawesi (), also known as Celebes (), is an island in Indonesia. One of the four Greater Sunda Islands, and the world's eleventh-largest island, it is situated east of Borneo, west of the Maluku Islands, and south of Mindanao and the Sulu Ar ...
, Indonesia. All prey is swallowed whole, and may take several days or even weeks to fully digest.
Even the larger species, such as the reticulated python, ''Malayopython reticulatus'', do not crush their prey to death; in fact, prey is not even noticeably deformed before it is swallowed. The speed with which the coils are applied is impressive and the force they exert may be significant, but death is caused by cardiac arrest.
Reproduction
Pythons are 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), and ...
. This sets them apart from the family Boidae (boas), most of which bear live young ( ovoviviparous). After they lay their eggs, females typically incubate them until they hatch. This is achieved by causing the muscles to "shiver", which raises the temperature of the body to a certain degree, and thus that of the eggs. Keeping the eggs at a constant temperature is essential for healthy embryo development. During the incubation period, females do not eat and leave only to bask to raise their body temperature.
Captivity
Most species in this family are available in the exotic pet trade. However, caution must be exercised with the larger species, as they can be dangerous; rare cases of large specimens killing their owners have been documented.
Taxonomy
Obsolete classification schemes—such as that of Boulenger Boulenger is a surname. Notable people with the surname include:
* Benjamin Boulenger (born 1990), French footballer
* Edward George Boulenger (1888–1946), British zoologist, director of aquarium at London Zoo
* George Albert Boulenger (1858–1 ...
(1890)—place pythons in Pythoninae
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 ...
, a subfamily
In biological classification, a subfamily (Latin: ', plural ') is an auxiliary (intermediate) taxonomic rank, next below family but more inclusive than genus. Standard nomenclature rules end subfamily botanical names with "-oideae", and zoologi ...
of the boa family, Boidae.[ However, despite a superficial resemblance to boas, pythons are more closely related to sunbeam snakes ('']Xenopeltis
''Xenopeltis'', the sunbeam snakes, are the sole genus of the monotypic family Xenopeltidae, the species of which are found in Southeast Asia. Sunbeam snakes are known for their highly iridescent scales. Two species are recognized, each one wit ...
'') and burrowing pythons (''Loxocemus
:''Common names: Mexican python, Mexican burrowing python, Mexican burrowing snake.''
''Loxocemus bicolor'',the sole member of the monotypic family Loxocemidae, is a species of python-like snake found in Mexico and Central America. No subspecies ...
'').
Genera
Relationship with humans
Poaching pythons
Poaching of pythons is a lucrative business with the global python skin trade being an estimated US$1 billion as of 2012. Pythons are poached for their meat, mostly consumed locally as bushmeat
Bushmeat is meat from wildlife species that are hunted for human consumption, most often referring to the meat of game in Africa. Bushmeat represents
a primary source of animal protein and a cash-earning commodity for inhabitants of humid tropi ...
and their skin, which is sent to Europe and North America for manufacture of accessories like bags, belts and shoes. The demand for poaching is increased because python farming is very expensive.
In Cameroon bushmeat markets, the African Rock Python is commonly sold for meat and is very expensive at US$175.[ The poaching of the pythons is illegal in Cameroon under their wildlife law, but there is little to no enforcement. In Kenya, there has been an increase in snake farms to address the demand for ]snake skin
Snakeskin may either refer to the skin of a live snake, the shed skin of a snake after molting, or to a type of leather that is made from the hide of a dead snake. Snakeskin and scales can have varying patterns and color formations, providing prot ...
internationally, but there are health concerns for the workers, and danger due to poachers coming to the farms to hunt the snakes.
Pythons and human health
While pythons are not venomous, they do carry a host of potential health issues for humans. Pythons are disease vectors for multiple illness, including Salmonella
''Salmonella'' is a genus of rod-shaped (bacillus) Gram-negative bacteria of the family Enterobacteriaceae. The two species of ''Salmonella'' are ''Salmonella enterica'' and ''Salmonella bongori''. ''S. enterica'' is the type species and is fur ...
, Chlamydia, Leptospirosis
Leptospirosis is a blood infection caused by the bacteria ''Leptospira''. Signs and symptoms can range from none to mild (headaches, muscle pains, and fevers) to severe ( bleeding in the lungs or meningitis). Weil's disease, the acute, severe ...
, Aeromoniasis, Campylobacteriosis, and Zygomycosis. These diseases may be transmitted to humans through excreted waste, open wounds, and contaminated water. A 2013 study found that Reptile-Associated Salmonella (RAS) is most common in young children who had been in contact with invasive pythons, with symptoms including " sepsis, meningitis
Meningitis is acute or chronic inflammation of the protective membranes covering the brain and spinal cord, collectively called the meninges. The most common symptoms are fever, headache, and neck stiffness. Other symptoms include confusion or ...
, and bone and joint infection".
Pythons are also integrated into some aspects of African health and belief use, often with the added risk of contacting zoonotic diseases. Python bodies and blood are used for African traditional medicines and other belief uses as well, one in-depth study of all animals used by the Yorubas of Nigeria for traditional medicine found that the African Python is used to cure rheumatism, snake poison, appeasing witches, and accident prevention.[
Python habitats, diets, and invasion into new areas also impact human health and prosperity. A University of Florida Institute of Food and Agriculture Sciences study found that the Burmese Python, as an invasive species, enters new habitats and eats an increasing number of mammals, leaving limited species for mosquitoes to bite, forcing them to bite disease-carrying hispid cotton rats and then infect humans with the Everglades Virus, a dangerous infection that is carried by very few animals. While direct human-python interactions can be potentially dangerous, the risk of zoonotic diseases is always a concern, whether considering medical and belief use in Nigeria or when addressing invasive species impacts in Florida.
]
Traditional use
Skin
Python skin has traditionally been used as the attire of choice for medicine men and healers. Typically, South African Zulu traditional healers will use python skin in ceremonial regalia.[ Pythons are viewed by the Zulu tradition to be a sign of power. This is likely why the skin is worn by traditional healers. Healers are seen as all-powerful since they have a wealth of knowledge, as well as accessibility to the ancestors.][
]
Fat
Typically, species are attributed to healing various ailments based on their likeliness to a specific bodily attribute. For example, in many cultures, the python is seen as a strong and powerful creature. As a result, pythons are often prescribed as a method of increasing strength.[ It is very common for the body fat of pythons to be used to treat a large variation of issues such as joint pain, rheumatic pain, toothache and ]eye sight
Visual perception is the ability to interpret the surrounding environment through photopic vision (daytime vision), color vision, scotopic vision (night vision), and mesopic vision (twilight vision), using light in the visible spectrum reflecte ...
. Additionally, python fat has been used to treat those suffering from mental illnesses like psychosis. Their calm nature is thought to be of use to treat combative patients. The fat of the python is rubbed onto the body part that is in pain. To improve mental illnesses, it is often rubbed on the temple.[ The existence of evidence for genuine anti inflammatory and anti-microbial properties of the refined 'snake oil' ironic with respect to the expression "snake oil salesman".
]
Blood
Python blood plays another important role in traditional medicine. Many believe that python blood prevents the accumulation of fatty acids, triglycerides and lipids from reaching critically high levels.[ Additionally, their blood has been used as a source of iron for people who are anemic, which helps reduce fatigue.][''[''The sources were not specific on the way this blood is administered; however, due to the use of snake blood in traditional treatments in other parts of the world for similar causes, it is likely that the patient drinks the blood in order to feel the effects.
]
Feces
The Sukuma Tribe of Tanzania have been known to use python feces in order to treat back pain. The feces are frequently mixed with a little water, placed on the back, and left for two to three days.
Organs
In Nigeria, the gallbladder and liver of a python are used to treat poison or bites from other snakes.[ The python head has been used to "appease witches". Many traditional African cultures believe that they can be cursed by witches. In order to reverse spells and bad luck, traditional doctors will prescribe python heads.]
Folklore
In northwestern Ghana, people see pythons as a savior and have taboos to prevent the snake from being harmed or eaten. Their folklore states that this is because a python once helped them flee from their enemies by transforming into a log to allow them to cross a river.
In Botswana, San ritual practices surrounding pythons date back 70,000 years. In San mythology the python is a sacred creature that is highly respected. They believe that mankind was made by a python that moved in between hills to create stream beds.
In Benin, Vodun practitioners believe that pythons symbolize strength and the spirit of Dagbe Yoruba&.html" in="" yoruba="" language"="">Yoruba">Yoruba_language.html" ;"title="to do good" in Yoruba language">Yoruba Annually, people sacrifice animals and proclaim their sins to pythons that are kept inside temples.
References
Notes
Citations
External links
*
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Snake families
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Snakes