Python

Python, common name for non-poisonous snakes of the Boidae family, which also includes boas. Pythons are large and muscular, and kill their prey by squeezing, or constricting, until it suffocates. Although most pythons feed on small mammals, some large species can kill and swallow small pigs and goats. Rarely, they have killed human beings. Pythons range from 1 to 10 m (3 to 33 ft) long and weigh up to 140 kg (300 lb). They are primitive snakes that, like boas, still show signs of their lizard ancestry; these vestiges include two tiny hind limbs, found only in the male. The female lays 15 to 100 eggs, varying with size and species, and broods them until they hatch. Pythons are sometimes found near water, where they hide in foliage or hang from branches.

About 20 to 25 species of pythons exist, which are found in the tropical and subtropical regions of Africa, Asia, Australia, and the Pacific islands. The reticulated python of south-eastern Asia is among the largest snakes, reaching a length of 10 m (33 ft). Other well-known pythons are the 7.5-m (25-ft) Indian python, a favourite of snake handlers; the 6.5-m (23-ft) African rock python, and the 1.5-m (5-ft) ball, or royal, python, of equatorial Africa, which curls into a ball and can be rolled on the ground.

Scientific classification: Pythons belong to the family Boidae. The reticulated python is classified as Python reticulatus, the Indian python as Python molurus, the African rock python as Python sebae, and the ball python as Python regius.