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| SCIENTIFIC
CLASSIFICATION |
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| COMMON
NAME: |
green tree python, green python, Papuan tree python |
| KINGDOM: |
Animalia |
| PHYLUM: |
Chordata |
| CLASS: |
Reptilia |
| ORDER: |
Squamata |
| FAMILY: |
Boidae |
| GENUS
SPECIES: |
Chondropython (coarse scales) viridis
(green) |
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| DESCRIPTION: |
Various
shades of green with broken, vertebral stripe of
white or yellow running down their back; may be
spots of blue, white, and yellow scattered over
the body; slender, compressed body; diamond shaped
head |
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| SIZE: |
160-180 cm (64-72 in.); maximum 220 cm (88 in.) |
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| DIET: |
Tree
lizards, birds, small mammals, and other small arboreal
vertebrates |
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| INCUBATION: |
45-52 days |
| CLUTCH
SIZE |
6-30
eggs |
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| LIFE
SPAN: |
Can
exceed 20 years; longest-lived record is 28 yr.
3 mos. |
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| RANGE: |
Northeast Australia, New Guinea, Solomon Islands,
Aru Islands |
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| POPULATION: |
GLOBAL |
No
data |
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| STATUS: |
IUCN |
No
data |
| CITES |
Appendix
II |
| USFWS |
No
data |
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| 1. |
Newborn
green tree pythons are bright yellow. orange, or
brick red and do not develop green coloring for
6-8 months. |
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| 2. |
These pythons lure their food by sitting very still
on a branch and dangling their tail. Curious about
the wiggling tail, the prey gets close enough for
a strike. |
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| 3. |
Green tree pythons spend much of their time coiled
around branches, situated so that their head lies
right in the middle of their coils, similar to a
saddle laying over a branch. |
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| 4. |
The
biology of green tree python has provided scientists
with an excellent example of what is called parallel
evolution. The green tree python looks and acts
much like its South American relative, the emerald
tree boa. However, the resemblance in appearance
and behavior nearly all the two have in common.
Boas bear live young; python species are oviparous. |
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Bauchot, Roland (ed.). Snakes: A Natural History.
New York: Sterling Publishing Co., Inc., 1994. |
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Barker, David G. and Barker, Tracy M. Pythons
of the World, Volume I, Australia. First Edition.
Advanced Vivarium Systems, Inc. 1994. |
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Ernst, Carl H., and Zug, George R. Snakes in
Question. Washington: Smithsonian Institution
Press, 1996.
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| Mattison,
Chris. Snakes of the World. New York: Facts
on File Publications, Inc., 1986. |
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| Mehrtens,
John M. Living Snakes of the World. New York:
Sterling Publishing Co., Inc., 1987. |
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| Stafford,
Peter J. Pythons and Boas. New Jersey: T.F.H.
Publications, Inc., 1986. |
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