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COMMON NAME: Amethyst or
Scrub Python
SCIENTIFIC NAME: Liasis amethystinus
FAMILY: Boidae
GENUS: Morelia
STATUS: Secure
SIZE (cm): 500-800cm |
DESCRIPTION: Australia's largest snake. Relatively
slender Morelia with large elongate head, bearing enlarged plate-like
head shields. Scales bear a milky iridescent sheen which has given rise
to common and scientific names. Ground colour pale yellowish-brown to
brown, marked with numerous irregular angular blackish bands, blotches
and streaks. Those on anterior body may form elongate streaks, while
those on lower flanks often coalesce into one or more broken stripes.
All aspects of pattern become obscure on posterior body and tail. Dark
streak extends from eye down to corner of mouth. Juveniles are less
glossy than adults, with a weaker pattern. Lips and ventral surfaces
cream to white. TL 3.5m, though individuals over 8m are recorded.
PREFERRED HABITAT: Rainforests, monsoon forests
and vine thickets (occasionally dry sclerophyll forests and woodlands)
in north-eastern Qld. from Townsville district north to Cape York
Peninsula and islands of Torres Strait. Extralimital in New Guinea
and the Moluccas.
MICROHABITAT: Shelters in hollow timber, rock crevices,
caves, abandoned buildings and beneath dense thickets of vegetation.
AVAILABILITY: Click
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