''Morelia spilota variegata'', commonly known as Torresian carpet python, Darwin carpet python or northwestern carpet python, is a subspecies of

python Python may refer to: Snakes * Pythonidae, a family of nonvenomous snakes found in Africa, Asia, and Australia ** ''Python'' (genus), a genus of Pythonidae found in Africa and Asia * Python (mythology), a mythical serpent Computing * Python (pro ...

found in

New Guinea New Guinea (; Hiri Motu: ''Niu Gini''; id, Papua, or , historically ) is the world's second-largest island with an area of . Located in Oceania in the southwestern Pacific Ocean, the island is separated from Australia by the wide Torr ...

and Australia, smaller than the nominate subspecies ''Morelia spilota spilota'' and has a more restricted geographic range.

Description

Adults usually grow to no more than 2m, but some have been recorded at 2.5m, and one four-year-old M. spilota variegata was recorded at 280 cm. The colour pattern consists of a beige or brown ground color overlaid with blackish or gray blotches, cross-bands or stripes, or a combination of any of these. Regional colour variations can include bright yellow, gold, rust and clear greys.

Naming

A number of synonyms refer to this subspecies: ''Morelia variegata'' - Gray, 1842; ''Morelia variegata'' - Gray, 1849; ''Morelia argus variegata'' - Jan & Sordelli, 1864; ''Morelia argus variegata'' - Mitchell, 1951; ''Morelia spilotes variegata'' - Mitchell, 1955; ''Morelia argus variegata'' - Stimson, 1969; ''Python spilotus variegatus'' - L.A. Smith, 1981; ''Morelia variegata'' - Wells & Wellington, 1984; and * ''Morelia spilota variegata'' - Barker & Barker, 1984. Common names include

carpet python ''Morelia spilota'', commonly referred to as the carpet python, is a large snake of the family Pythonidae found in Australia, New Guinea ( Indonesia and Papua New Guinea), Bismarck Archipelago, and the northern Solomon Islands. Many subspec ...

,Mehrtens JM. 1987. ''Living Snakes of the World in Color''. New York: Sterling Publishers. 480 pp. . Northwestern carpet python, Irian Jaya carpet python, West Papuan carpet python, Proserpine carpet python.

Geographic range

Found in

(

Western New Guinea Western New Guinea, also known as Papua, Indonesian New Guinea, or Indonesian Papua, is the western half of the Melanesian island of New Guinea which is administered by Indonesia. Since the island is alternatively named as Papua, the region ...

and

Papua New Guinea Papua New Guinea (abbreviated PNG; , ; tpi, Papua Niugini; ho, Papua Niu Gini), officially the Independent State of Papua New Guinea ( tpi, Independen Stet bilong Papua Niugini; ho, Independen Stet bilong Papua Niu Gini), is a country i ...

) and Australia in northwestern

Western Australia Western Australia (commonly abbreviated as WA) is a state of Australia occupying the western percent of the land area of Australia excluding external territories. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to th ...

and in the northern portion of the

Northern Territory The Northern Territory (commonly abbreviated as NT; formally the Northern Territory of Australia) is an Australian territory in the central and central northern regions of Australia. The Northern Territory shares its borders with Western Aust ...

. The type locality given is "North Australia: Port Essington" (Northern Territory, Australia).McDiarmid RW, Campbell JA, Touré T. 1999. Snake Species of the World: A Taxonomic and Geographic Reference, vol. 1. Herpetologists' League. 511 pp. (series). (volume).

Feeding

The snake is not venomous and kills prey by

constriction Constriction is a method used by various snake species to kill or subdue their prey. Although some species of venomous and mildly venomous snakes do use constriction to subdue their prey, most snakes which use constriction lack venom. The snake i ...

. Their diet is varied and includes many different birds and mammals. Populations that inhabit forested areas are mostly arboreal and often feed on brush-tailed possums, ''

Trichosurus The brushtail possums are the members of the genus ''Trichosurus'' in the Phalangeridae, a family of marsupials. They are native to Australia (including Tasmania) and some small nearby islands. Unique among marsupials, they have shifted the hyp ...

''.

Reproduction

Oviparous, females deposit their eggs in secluded places such as hollow logs and tree boles where they protect and incubate them. Captive specimens have produced up to 18 eggs that hatch after a 40-day incubation period. The hatchlings are about 12 inches (30 cm) in length.

Description

Naming

Geographic range

Feeding

Reproduction

References

External links