Python anchietae

Python anchietae
Conservation status
Least Concern  (IUCN 3.1) [1]
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Reptilia
Order:	Squamata
Suborder:	Serpentes
Family:	Pythonidae
Genus:	Python
Species:	P. anchietae
Binomial name
Python anchietae Bocage, 1887
Approximate distribution
Synonyms [2]
Python Anchietae Bocage, 1887 Python anchietæ — Boulenger, 1893

Python anchietae (with common names Angolan python and Anchieta's dwarf python) ^[3] is a python species endemic to southern Africa. According to Donald George Broadley (1990), this species is most closely related to the ball python (P. regius) of western Africa, ^[3] and no subspecies are currently recognized. ^[4] It is named after the Portuguese naturalist and explorer José Alberto de Oliveira Anchieta. ^[5] Like all other pythons, it is not venomous.

Description

Python anchietae may grow up to 183 cm (6 ft) in total length (including tail). The color pattern is a reddish-brown to brown to almost black ground, overlaid with irregular white or cream-colored bands and spots. The belly is yellowish. A rare species seldom seen in the wild or in captivity, it is the only python to have "bead-like" head scales. ^[3] It has heat sensitive pits, five on each side of the head, on the upper lip. The smooth dorsal scales are arranged in 57-61 rows. ^[6]

Distribution and habitat

Python anchietae is found in Africa in southern Angola and northern Namibia. The type locality given is "Catumbella [Catumbela]" near Lobito, Angola. ^{[2] [4]} Habitats are rocky outcrops or areas strewn with rocks in open brush or grassland. ^[3] Diurnal, they shelter in small caves, overhangs and crevices.

Behaviour and biology

Hatching twins

Python anchietae exhibits hisses, which are mostly bluff. ^[3] Its diet consists of small mammals and birds. ^[3] It is oviparous, with small clutches of four to five eggs being produced at a time. Hatchlings are 43–46 cm (17–18 in)long. ^[3]

References

1. Baptista, N.; Becker, F.; Conradie, W.; Bauer, A.M. & Ceríaco, L.M.P. (2021). "Python anchietae". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species . 2021 e.T177539A120594491. doi: 10.2305/IUCN.UK.2021-2.RLTS.T177539A120594491.en . Retrieved 19 November 2021.
2. McDiarmid, R.W. [in French]; Campbell, J.A.; Touré, T.A. (1999). Snake Species of the World: A Taxonomic and Geographic Reference. Vol. 1. Washington, District of Columbia: Herpetologists' League. ISBN   1-893777-01-4.
3. Mehrtens JM (1987). Living Snakes of the World in Color. New York: Sterling Publishers. 480 pp. ISBN   0-8069-6460-X.
4. Python anchietae at the Reptarium.cz Reptile Database . Accessed 25 September 2020.
5. Beolens, Bo; Watkins, Michael; Grayson, Michael (2011). The Eponym Dictionary of Reptiles. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press. xiii + 296 pp. ISBN   978-1-4214-0135-5. (Python anchietae, p. 8).
6. Branch, Bill (2004). Field Guide to Snakes and other Reptiles of Southern Africa. Third Revised edition, Second Impression. Sanibel Island, Florida: Ralph Curtis Books. 399 pp. (Python anchietae, p. 59 + Plate 17).

Further reading

• Bocage JVB (1887). "Sur un Python nouveau d'Afrique ". Jornal de sciencias mathematicas physicas e naturaes, Lisboa [12] (46): 87–88. (Python anchietae, new species). (in French).