Morelia amethistina is a non-venomous species

Species

In biology, a species is one of the basic units of biological classification and a taxonomic rank. A species is often defined as a group of organisms capable of interbreeding and producing fertile offspring. While in many cases this definition is adequate, more precise or differing measures are...

 of snake, known as the amethystine or scrub python, found in Indonesia

Indonesia

Indonesia , officially the Republic of Indonesia , is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania. Indonesia is an archipelago comprising approximately 13,000 islands. It has 33 provinces with over 238 million people, and is the world's fourth most populous country. Indonesia is a republic, with an...

, Papua New Guinea

Papua New Guinea

Papua New Guinea , officially the Independent State of Papua New Guinea, is a country in Oceania, occupying the eastern half of the island of New Guinea and numerous offshore islands...

 and Australia

Australia

Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...

. Popular among reptile enthusiasts, and noted for its coloration and size, it is the largest Australian snake. No subspecies

Subspecies

Subspecies in biological classification, is either a taxonomic rank subordinate to species, ora taxonomic unit in that rank . A subspecies cannot be recognized in isolation: a species will either be recognized as having no subspecies at all or two or more, never just one...

 are currently recognized.

Description

Specimens have been measured at more than 8.5 m in length, but this is quite exceptional, as 5.5 m specimens are already considered large. The body is relatively slim, unlike many other large members of this family. The specific name, amethistina, is an allusion to the milky iridescent sheen on its scales, which gives it an amethyst

Amethyst

Amethyst is a violet variety of quartz often used in jewelry. The name comes from the Ancient Greek ἀ a- and μέθυστος methustos , a reference to the belief that the stone protected its owner from drunkenness; the ancient Greeks and Romans wore amethyst and made drinking vessels of it in the belief...

-like color.

Geographic range

Found in Indonesia

Indonesia

Indonesia , officially the Republic of Indonesia , is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania. Indonesia is an archipelago comprising approximately 13,000 islands. It has 33 provinces with over 238 million people, and is the world's fourth most populous country. Indonesia is a republic, with an...

 (Maluku Islands

Maluku Islands

The Maluku Islands are an archipelago that is part of Indonesia, and part of the larger Maritime Southeast Asia region. Tectonically they are located on the Halmahera Plate within the Molucca Sea Collision Zone...

, Timorlaut Islands, Banda

Banda Islands

The Banda Islands are a volcanic group of ten small volcanic islands in the Banda Sea, about south of Seram Island and about east of Java, and are part of the Indonesian province of Maluku. The main town and administrative centre is Bandanaira, located on the island of the same name. They rise...

, Kai Islands

Kai Islands

The Kai Islands of Indonesia are in the south-eastern part of the Maluku Islands, in Maluku Province.-Geography:...

, Aru Islands

Aru Islands

The Aru Islands are a group of about ninety-five low-lying islands in the Maluku province of eastern Indonesia. They also form a regency of Indonesia.-Geography:...

, Misool

Misool

Misool is one of the four major islands in the Raja Ampat Islands in West Papua , Indonesia. Its area is 2034 km². The highest point is 535 m and the main town is Waigama, on the island's northern coast, and Lilinta....

, Selawati, most of Western New Guinea

Western New Guinea

West Papua informally refers to the Indonesian western half of the island of New Guinea and other smaller islands to its west. The region is officially administered as two provinces: Papua and West Papua. The eastern half of New Guinea is Papua New Guinea.The population of approximately 3 million...

, many islands in Geelvink Bay

Cenderawasih Bay

Cenderawasih Bay , also Teluk Sarera , formerly Geelvink Bay is a large bay in northern Province of Papua and West Papua, New Guinea, Indonesia, at . The Dutch name comes after a Dutch ship and family called Geelvinck...

), Papua New Guinea

Papua New Guinea

Papua New Guinea , officially the Independent State of Papua New Guinea, is a country in Oceania, occupying the eastern half of the island of New Guinea and numerous offshore islands...

 (including Umboi Island

Umboi Island

Umboi is a volcanic island between the mainland of Papua New Guinea and the island of New Britain. It is separated from New Britain by Dampier Strait and has an elevation of 1,548 m. Umboi is a Holocene complex volcano with no historic eruptions...

, Bismarck Archipelago

Bismarck Archipelago

The Bismarck Archipelago is a group of islands off the northeastern coast of New Guinea in the western Pacific Ocean and is part of the Islands Region of Papua New Guinea.-History:...

, Trobriand Islands

Trobriand Islands

The Trobriand Islands are a 450 km² archipelago of coral atolls off the eastern coast of New Guinea. They are situated in Milne Bay Province in Papua New Guinea. Most of the population of 12,000 indigenous inhabitants live on the main island of Kiriwina, which is also the location of the...

, the d'Entrecasteaux Islands

D'Entrecasteaux Islands

D'Entrecasteaux Islands are situated near the eastern tip of New Guinea in the Solomon Sea in Milne Bay Province of Papua New Guinea. The group spans a distance of 160 km, has a total land area of approximately 3,100 km² and is separated from the Papua New Guinea mainland by the...

 to Rossel Island

Rossel Island (Yela)

Rossel Island is the easternmost island of the Louisiade Archipelago, which itself is part of the Milne Bay Province of Papua New Guinea. The volcanic island measures 34 km east-west, and is up to 11 km wide. With an area of 262.5 km², it is the second largest island of the archipelago, after...

, Louisiade Archipelago

Louisiade Archipelago

The Louisiade Archipelago is a string of ten larger volcanic islands frequently fringed by coral reefs, and 90 smaller coral islands located 200 km southeast of New Guinea, stretching over more than and spread over an ocean area of between the Solomon Sea to the north and the Coral Sea to...

), and Australia

Australia

Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...

 (on some islands in the Torres Strait

Torres Strait

The Torres Strait is a body of water which lies between Australia and the Melanesian island of New Guinea. It is approximately wide at its narrowest extent. To the south is Cape York Peninsula, the northernmost continental extremity of the Australian state of Queensland...

, the northern Cape York Peninsula

Cape York Peninsula

Cape York Peninsula is a large remote peninsula located in Far North Queensland at the tip of the state of Queensland, Australia, the largest unspoilt wilderness in northern Australia and one of the last remaining wilderness areas on Earth...

 south including the Atherton Tableland

Atherton Tableland

The Atherton Tableland is a fertile plateau which is part of the Great Dividing Range in Queensland, Australia. It is located west to south-south-west inland from Cairns, well into the tropics, but its elevated position provides a climate suitable for dairy farming. It has an area of around...

 and the eastern foothills of the Great Dividing Range

Great Dividing Range

The Great Dividing Range, or the Eastern Highlands, is Australia's most substantial mountain range and the third longest in the world. The range stretches more than 3,500 km from Dauan Island off the northeastern tip of Queensland, running the entire length of the eastern coastline through...

). The type locality is unknown.

Habitat

Occurs in both bushland and suburbia. In Indonesia and northern tropical Queensland, Australia, it is found mostly in rainforests. Warm, humid habitats with good water sources are preferred.

Behavior

Largely nocturnal. Younger individuals are mainly arboreal, while large adults spend more time on the ground. Male amethystine pythons are aggressive towards one another during the mating season and at such times will engage in combat.

Feeding

The diet generally consists of birds, fruit bats, rats, possums, and other small animals. Larger Australian specimens will catch and eat wallabies, waiting by creek and river banks for prey seeking drinking water.

Taxonomy

According to McDiarmid et al. (1999), all cases in which the specific name was spelled with a y follow Daudin's (1803) Python amethystinus and are therefore unjustified emendations.

External links

• Amethystine python at Bristol Zoo. Accessed 18 September 2007.