Sumatran short-tailed python: Difference between revisions

Revision as of 17:38, 19 July 2025

Latest revision as of 20:28, 22 July 2025

(4 intermediate revisions by 2 users not shown)

Line 13:

}}

The '''Sumatran short-tailed python'''<ref name="iucn status 19 November 2021"/> ('''''Python curtus'''''), also called the '''Sumatra python''',<ref>{{NRDB species|genus=Python|species=curtus|date=11 September|year=2007}}</ref> is a [[species]] of the family [[Pythonidae]], a nonvenomous snake native to [[Sumatra]].<ref name="iucn status 19 November 2021" />

==Taxonomy==

[[File:Python curtus.jpg|thumb|A Sumatran short-tailed python]]

''Python curtus'' was the [[scientific name]] proposed by [[Hermann Schlegel]] in 1872 for a python with a short tail from Sumatra.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Schlegel |first1=H. |year=1872 |title=De Diergaarde van het Koninklijk Zoölogisch Genootschap Natura Artis Magistra te Amsterdam: De Kruipende Dieren |editor1-last=Witkamp |editor1-first=P. H. |___location=Amsterdam |publisher=Van Es |pages=53–54 |chapter=De Pythons |chapter-url=https://archive.org/details/dedierentuinvanh00schl/page/54}}</ref> The [[Type locality (biology)|type locality]] is Sumatra.<ref name="McD99">McDiarmid, R. W., Campbell, J. A., Touré, T. 1999. Snake Species of the World: A Taxonomic and Geographic Reference, vol. 1. Herpetologists' League. 511 pp. {{ISBN|1-893777-00-6}} (series). {{ISBN|1-893777-01-4}} (volume).</ref>

''[[Python brongersmai]]'' and ''[[Python breitensteini|P. breitensteini]]'' were often considered the same species as ''P. curtus'' until confirmed distinct around 2000.

==Description==

[[File:PythonCurtusRooij.jpg|thumb|The arrangement of labial scales identify this illustration as ''[[Python brongersmai]]'']]

The Sumatran short-tailed python has narrow subocular [[Scale (anatomy)|scales]] between the bottom of the eye and the top of the labial scales. The parietal scales do not join each other. ''P. curtus'' and ''[[Python breitensteini|P. breitensteini]]'' can be distinguished by the frontal and parietal scales on the tops of their heads. In both ''[[Python brongersmai|P. brongersmai]]'' and ''P. breitensteini'', the parietal scales join.

Adults grow to {{convert|1.1|-|1.5|m|ft|abbr=on}} in length and are heavily built. The tail is extremely short relative to the overall length. The color pattern consists of a beige, tan, or grayish-brown ground color overlaid with blotches that are reddish in color.<ref name="Meh87">Mehrtens, J. M. 1987. Living Snakes of the World in Color. New York: Sterling Publishers. 480 pp. {{ISBN|0-8069-6460-X}}.</ref><!--{{update theinline |reason=The split of brongersmai and breitensteini from curtus was after this 1987 source, so the color pattern description (and possibly the length range description) here may suffer from a confusion of these species. It would be better to cite a source written by an author who is clearly aware of the split. |date=July -->2025}}

==Distribution and habitat==

Line 48 ⟶ 50:

{{Taxonbar|from=Q1344842}}

[[Category:Python (genus)|curtus]]

[[Category:Reptiles of Indonesia]]

[[Category:Reptiles described in 1872]]