The Timor python (''Malayopython timoriensis'') is a

python Python may refer to: Snakes * Pythonidae, a family of nonvenomous snakes found in Africa, Asia, and Australia ** ''Python'' (genus), a genus of Pythonidae found in Africa and Asia * Python (mythology), a mythical serpent Computing * Python (pro ...

species In biology, a species is the basic unit of 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 the appropriate s ...

found in

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 ...

. A dwarf species, no

subspecies In biological classification, subspecies is a rank below species, used for populations that live in different areas and vary in size, shape, or other physical characteristics (morphology), but that can successfully interbreed. Not all species ...

are recognized as being valid. Like all pythons, it is a

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 ...

constrictor; unlike larger species such as the

reticulated python The reticulated python (''Malayopython reticulatus'') is a python species native to South and Southeast Asia. It is the world's longest snake, and is among the three heaviest. It is listed as least concern on the IUCN Red List because of its wi ...

, it is not considered dangerous to humans.

Description

The Timor python is a fairly long, over , but relatively thin python. It has a series of heat-sensing pits between its nostrils and mouth used to find warm-blooded prey in total darkness. It is cold-blooded. Mehrtens JM (1987). ''Living Snakes of the World in Color''. New York: Sterling Publishers. 480 pp. .

Geographic range

''M. timoriensis'' is found in Southeast Asia on the

Lesser Sunda Islands The Lesser Sunda Islands or nowadays known as Nusa Tenggara Islands ( id, Kepulauan Nusa Tenggara, formerly ) are an archipelago in Maritime Southeast Asia, north of Australia. Together with the Greater Sunda Islands to the west they make up t ...

(

Flores Flores is one of the Lesser Sunda Islands, a group of islands in the eastern half of Indonesia. Including the Komodo Islands off its west coast (but excluding the Solor Archipelago to the east of Flores), the land area is 15,530.58 km2, and th ...

, Lombien and

Timor Timor is an island at the southern end of Maritime Southeast Asia, in the north of the Timor Sea. The island is East Timor–Indonesia border, divided between the sovereign states of East Timor on the eastern part and Indonesia on the western p ...

islands), its type locality is given as " Kupang, (Timor)" ndonesia

Behavior

''M. timoriensis'' is partly arboreal."''Malayopython timoriensis'' ". The Reptile Database. www.reptile-database.org.

Feeding

Captive specimens of ''M. timoriensis'' have been known to accept birds and small mammals.

Reproduction

''M. timoriensis'' 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), and ...

Taxonomy

''Liasis amethystinus'' var. ''timoriensis'' was the scientific name proposed by

Wilhelm Peters Wilhelm Karl Hartwich (or Hartwig) Peters (22 April 1815 in Koldenbüttel – 20 April 1883) was a German natural history, naturalist and explorer. He was assistant to the anatomist Johannes Peter Müller and later became curator of the Natural ...

in 1876. Peters W (1876). "''Über die von S. M. S. Gazelle mitgebrachten Amphibien'' ". ''Monatsberichte der Königlich Preussischen Akademie der Wissenschaften zu Berlin'' 1876: 528–535 + Plate. (''Liasis amethystinus'' var. ''timoriensis'', new variety, p. 533 + Plate, figures 3, 3a, 3b, 3c). (in German). Authors of a

phylogenetic In biology, phylogenetics (; from Greek φυλή/ φῦλον [] "tribe, clan, race", and wikt:γενετικός, γενετικός [] "origin, source, birth") is the study of the evolutionary history and relationships among or within groups o ...

study suggested that the Timor python together with the reticulated python should be moved to a distinct genus ''Broghammerus''. Subsequent phylogenetic analyses have supported the separation of the Timor and reticulated pythons from genus ''Python''. However, ''Broghammerus'' is considered an invalid name by most authorities, which made R. Graham Reynolds et al. formally rename this clade ''Malayopython'' in 2014, a decision that was followed by many authors.

References

External links

* {{Taxonbar, from=Q1815261 Pythonidae Reptiles of Timor Reptiles of Indonesia Reptiles described in 1876 Taxa named by Wilhelm Peters