Scientific Classification
- 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)
Fast Facts
- 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
- Size
- 160-180 cm (64-72 in.); maximum 220 cm (88 in.)
- Weight
- No data
- Diet
- Tree lizards, birds, small mammals, and other small arboreal vertebrates
- Incubation
- 45-52 days
Clutch Size: 6-30 eggs - Sexual Maturity
- 3 years
- Life Span
- an exceed 20 years; longest-lived record is 28 yr. 3 mos.
- Range
- Northeast Australia, New Guinea, Solomon Islands, Aru Islands
- Habitat
- Rainforests
- Population
- Global: No data
- Status
- IUCN: No data
CITES: Appendix II
USFWS: Not listed
Fun Facts
- Newborn green tree pythons are bright yellow. orange, or brick red and do not develop green coloring for 6-8 months.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
Ecology and Conservation
No data
Bibliography
Bauchot, Roland (ed.). Snakes: A Natural History. New York: Sterling Publishing Co., Inc., 1994.
Barker, David G. and Barker, Tracy M. Pythons of the World, Volume I, Australia. First Edition. Advanced Vivarium Systems, Inc. 1994.
Ernst, Carl H., and Zug, George R. Snakes in Question. Washington: Smithsonian Institution Press, 1996.
Mattison, Chris. Snakes of the World. New York: Facts on File Publications, Inc., 1986.
Mehrtens, John M. Living Snakes of the World. New York: Sterling Publishing Co., Inc., 1987.
Stafford, Peter J. Pythons and Boas. New Jersey: T.F.H. Publications, Inc., 1986.