You can find out more about the green anaconda on this page: Green Anaconda Facts.Due to her huge bulk, the record-breaking anaconda probably weighed around 500 pounds, over 100 pounds more than the python. The largest snake ever found was a 28-foot-long green anaconda, just a little shorter than the longest reticulated python. The reticulated python might be the longest snake in the world, but the green anaconda is by far the heaviest. Green Anaconda ( Eunectes murinus) The green anaconda is the world’s largest snake. They give birth to live young, whereas pythons (and most other snakes) lay eggs. Boas and anacondas live in South and Central America, whereas pythons live in Asia and Africa. Physically, anacondas are shorter and stockier than pythons, and their heads are less angular.Īnacondas are close cousins of the boas, another group of constrictors in the same family. With their huge bulk, anacondas look similar to pythons, but they’re only distant relatives. Because of its small size and beautiful coloration, the ball python is one of the most popular reptiles in the pet trade.īall pythons are named for their defensive behavior, which involves the snake coiling up into a tight ball when threatened. Pythons are famous for their huge sizes, but not all species are large: the ball python is a miniature cousin of the reticulated python, growing to only 5 or 6 feet. You can find out more about the reticulated python on this page: Reticulated Python Factsīall Python ( Python regius) Brian Gratwicke / CC BY 2.0.Reticulated pythons are the only snake known to prey on humans in the wild. The longest snake in the world is the reticulated python ( Python reticulatus), a colorful constrictor that can grow up to 30 feet long. The python’s body confirms that view, and also suggests that pythons haven’t changed much in the tens of millions of years since they first evolved unlike other modern snakes, pythons still have tiny back limbs, an evolutionary holdover from snakes’ lizard ancestors.Ĭalled “pelvic spurs,” the legs protrude just a few millimeters from the skin at the base of the snake’s tail. Pythons are genetically distant from all other snakes, which leads scientists to believe that they were an early evolutionary offshoot. They’re the classic constrictors: instead of a venomous bite, they kill their prey by coiling around it, gradually tightening their grip until their victim is unable to breathe. Pythons are the longest snakes in the world. But one snake, the European adder, has made its home all over Europe, including the far northern reaches of Russia and Scandinavia. Snakes live in every environment imaginable: from the wettest jungle to the driest desert, and from the boiling heat of the equator all the way to the arctic circle.īecause snakes are reptiles and therefore cold-blooded, they tend to prefer hot places. They also share a common lifestyle – every snake, everywhere on earth, is a predator. Over a hundred million years or so, snakes have adapted to nearly every climate and ecosystem on earth.Īs diverse as they are, all snakes share a common body plan, with a long, legless trunk and a short tail (you can tell trunk from tail by the skeleton: the trunk is the part with the ribs). This incredible diversity is a testament to their evolutionary success. And about a third of them (perhaps as many as 3,600 species) are snakes.
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