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{{Short description|Species of snake}}
{{Speciesbox
| name = Central African rock python
| image =
| image_caption =
| status = NT
| status_ref = <ref name=iucn>{{cite iucn |author=Alexander, G.J. |author2=Tolley, K.A. |author3=Penner, J. |author4=Luiselli, L. |author5=Jallow, M. |author6=Segniagbeto, G. |author7=Niagate, B. |author8=Howell, K. |author9=Beraduccii, J. |author10=Msuya, C.A. |author11=Ngalason, W. |year=2021 |title=''Python sebae'' |page=e.T13300572A13300582 |doi=10.2305/IUCN.UK.2021-2.RLTS.T13300572A13300582.en}}</ref>
| status_system = IUCN3.1
| genus = Python
| species = sebae
| authority = ([[Johann Friedrich Gmelin|Gmelin]],
| range_map = Natural Range of Python sebae.svg
| range_map_caption = <div style="text-align:left;">
{{legend|#48DF38|border=1px solid #48DF38|Range of '''''Python sebae
{{legend|#F07647|border=1px solid #F07647|Range of ''[[Python
{{legend|#F4EA31|border=1px solid #F4EA31|Range of hybrids}}</div>
| range_map_alt = Map of Africa showing highlighted range of two subspecies covering much of the continent south of the Sahara
| synonyms = {{collapsible list |{{species list
|Coluber sebae |[[Johann Friedrich Gmelin|Gmelin]], 1789
|Boa hieroglyphica |[[Johann Gottlob Schneider|Schneider]], 1801
|Python houttuyni |[[François Marie Daudin|Daudin]], 1803
|Python liberiensis |[[Edward Hallowell (herpetologist)|Hallowell]], 1845
|Hortulia sebae |[[John Edward Gray|Gray]], 1849
|Boa liberiensis |[[Edward Hallowell (herpetologist)|Hallowell]], 1854
|Python sebae |[[Oskar Boettger|Boettger]], 1887
|Python jubalis |Pitman, 1936
|Python sebae sebae |[[Donald George Broadley|Broadley]], 1983
|Python sebae |Branch, 1991
}} }}
| synonyms_ref = <ref name="McD99">[[Roy Wallace McDiarmid|McDiarmid RW]], [[Jonathan A. Campbell|Campbell JA]], Touré TA (1999). ''Snake Species of the World: A Taxonomic and Geographic Reference, Volume 1''. Washington, District of Columbia: Herpetologists' League. {{ISBN|1-893777-00-6}} (series). {{ISBN|1-893777-01-4}} (volume).</ref>
}}
The '''Central African rock python''' ('''''Python sebae''''') is a [[species]] of large constrictor snake in the [[Family (biology)|family]] [[Pythonidae]]. The species is native to [[sub-Saharan Africa]]. It is one of
It is Africa's largest snake, and one of the
The snake is widely feared, though it is nonvenomous and very rarely kills humans. Although the snake is not endangered, it does face threats from habitat reduction and hunting. Some cultures in
==Taxonomy and etymology==
The Central African rock python
The [[Genus|generic name]] ''Python'' is a [[Ancient Greek language|Greek]] word referring to the [[Python (mythology)|enormous serpent]] at [[Delphi]] slain by [[Apollo]] in [[Greek mythology]]. The [[Specific name (zoology)|specific name]] ''sebae'' is a [[Latinization (literature)|latinization]] of the surname of Dutch zoologist, [[Albertus Seba]].<ref name="Meh87">Mehrtens JM (1987). ''Living Snakes of the World in Color''. New York: Sterling Publishers. {{ISBN|0-8069-6460-X}}.</ref><ref>Beolens, Bo; Watkins, Michael; Grayson, Michael (2011). ''The Eponym Dictionary of Reptiles''. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press. xiii + 296 pp. (''Python sebae'', p. 240). {{ISBN|978-1-4214-0135-5}}.</ref> Common name usage varies with the species referred to as the African rock python or simply the rock python.
==Description==
[[File:Albertus Seba Python sebae.jpg|thumb|left|An 18th-century illustration]]
Africa's largest snake species<ref name=Holland>{{cite book |title=Boas and Pythons of the World|year=2007 |publisher=New Holland Publishers |___location=London |author=[[Mark O'Shea (herpetologist)|
[[File:Brehm VII 331 - Python sebae.png|thumb|right|Illustration by Brehms Thierleben]]
The snake varies considerably in body size between different areas. In general, it is smaller in highly populated regions, such as in southern [[Nigeria]], only reaching its maximum length in areas such as [[Sierra Leone]], where the human population density is lower. [[Sexual dimorphism|Males are typically smaller than females]].<ref name=Starin>{{cite journal |vauthors=Starin ED, Burghardt GM | title=African rock pythons (''Python sebae'') in the Gambia: observations on natural history and interactions with humans | journal=The Snake |pages=50–62 |volume=24 |year=1992}}</ref>
One individual captured in Cote d'Ivoire was allegedly {{cvt|9.96|m}} long.<ref>{{cite book |last=Martin | first=C. |date=1991 |title=The Rainforests of West Africa |___location=Boston |publisher=Birkhauser Verlag |page= 100 |isbn= 0-8176-2380-9}}</ref>
The body is thick and covered with coloured blotches, often joining up in a broad, irregular stripe. Body markings vary between brown, olive, chestnut, and yellow, but fade to white on the underside.<ref name=Barron>{{cite book |title=Pythons |year=2009 |isbn=978-0-7641-4244-4|url=https://archive.org/details/pythonseverythin0000bart|url-access=registration|publisher=Barron’s Educational Series |___location=New York |vauthors=Bartlett PP, Wagner E }}</ref><ref name=Collins /> The head is triangular and is marked on top with a dark brown “spear-head” outlined in buffy yellow. Teeth are many, sharp, and backwardly curved.<ref name=Schmidt>{{cite book |title=Reptiles and Amphibians of Southern Africa |isbn=1-77007-342-6 |year=2006 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=D-T7qkR5K7QC |publisher=Struik |___location=Cape Town, South Africa |author=Schmidt, W.}}{{Dead link|date=November 2023 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref><ref name=Collins /> Under the eye, there is a distinctive triangular marking, the [[Ocular scales|subocular mark]].<ref name=Barron /> Like all pythons, the [[Scale (anatomy)|scales]] of the African rock python are small and smooth.<ref name=Collins /><ref name=Branch>{{cite book|title=Field Guide to Snakes and Other Reptiles of Southern Africa|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=hs9EzcxkCE4C |isbn=1868720403 |year=1998 |publisher=Struik |___location=Cape Town, South Africa |author=Branch, B.}}{{Dead link|date=November 2023 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref> Those around the lips possess [[Infrared sensing in snakes|heat-sensitive pits]], which are used to detect warm-blooded prey, even in the dark.<ref name=Schmidt /><ref name=Branch /><ref name=Oxford>{{cite book|title=The New Encyclopedia of Reptiles and Amphibians |isbn=0-19-852507-9 |year=2002|publisher=Oxford University Press|___location=Oxford |vauthors=Halliday T, Adler K }}</ref> Pythons also possess two functioning lungs, unlike more advanced snakes, which have only one, and also have small, visible [[pelvic spur]]s, believed to be the vestiges of hind limbs.<ref name=Branch /><ref name=Oxford />
{{multiple image |align=right|total_width=400 |image1=Python natalensis-Head.jpg |caption1= |image2=Python sebae head1'.jpg |caption2= |footer=Cephalic features of the Southern African rock python (''Python natalensis'', left) and the Central African rock python (''Python sebae'', on the right).}}
The Southern African rock python and the Central African rock python differ in the following ways:
*The southern has a similar colour to its northern relative, however it is described as being "drabber".<ref name=RDB2>{{Cite web|url= https://reptile-database.reptarium.cz/species?genus=Python&species=natalensis |title=Python natalensis|website=Reptile-database.reptarium.cz |access-date=5 June 2022}}</ref>
*''P. sebae'' has two prominent light lines from the nose, over the eye to the back of the head, which are much duller in ''P. natalensis''.<ref name=RDB2/><ref name="b123">{{cite web|url=https://www.africansnakebiteinstitute.com/articles/snake-comparison-african-rock-python-vs-southern-african-python/|title=Snake Comparison – African Rock Python vs Southern African Python|date=25 June 2019 }}</ref>
*The northern species has considerably larger head scales.<ref name=RDB2/>
*Also, ''P. natalensis'' is typically smaller in size relative to ''P. sebae''.<ref name="b123" /> ''P. natalensis'' reaches an average length of between 2.8 and 4 m<ref name="Spawls">p. Spawls, K Howell, R Drewes, J Ashe: ''A Field Guide to the Reptiles of East Africa''. Academic Press, London 2002, {{ISBN|0-12-656470-1}}, pp. 305–310.</ref> (max.size measured 5.8 m.<ref name="Branch2">W. R. Branch, W. D. Haacke: ''A Fatal Attack on a Young Boy by an African Rock Python Python sebae''. Journal of Herpetology Vol.14, No.3, 1980, pp. 305–307.</ref>) and, while ''P. sebae'' with an average length between 2.7 and 4.6 m long<ref name="Pitman">C.R.S. Pitman: ''A guide to the snakes of Uganda''. Codicote Wheldon & Wesley, Ltd, 1974, {{ISBN|0-85486-020-7}}, pp. 67–71.</ref> (max.size measured 6.5 m.<ref name="Branch2"/>).
*In ''P. natalensis'', the dark patch in front of and posterior to the eye is paler and narrower than in ''P. sebae'', giving the appearance of a dark stripe as opposed to a yellow stripe at the level of the eye.<ref name=RDB2/>
==Distribution and habitat==
[[File:Praeneste - Nile Mosaic - Section 1a - Detail.jpg|thumb
The Central African rock python is found throughout
The Central African rock python inhabits a wide range of habitats, including forest, savanna, grassland, semidesert, and rocky areas. It is particularly associated with areas of permanent water,<ref name=Barron /><ref>Luiselli L, Akani GC, Eniang EA, Politano E (2007). "Comparative ecology and ecological modeling of sympatric pythons, ''Python regius'' and ''Python sebae''. '''In:''' Henderson RW, Powell R (Editors) (2007). ''Biology of the Boas and Pythons''. Eagle Mountain, Utah: EMP Press. {{ISBN|0972015434}}.</ref> and is found on the edges of swamps, lakes, and rivers.<ref name=Holland /><ref name=Collins /> The snake also readily adapts to disturbed habitats, so is often found around human habitation,<ref name=ark9/> especially cane fields.<ref name="Meh87"/>
In 2009, a Central African rock python was found in the [[Everglades|Florida Everglades]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.nbc-2.com/Global/story.asp?S=12226516|access-date=5 April 2012|publisher=WBBH (NBC-2 News)|title=Largest African Rock Python caught in Everglades |archive-date=21 July 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150721140750/http://www.nbc-2.com/Global/story.asp?S=12226516}}</ref> It is feared to be establishing itself as an [[invasive species]] alongside the already-established [[Burmese python]]. Feral rock pythons were also noted in the 1990s in the Everglades.<ref name="Mur97"/>
{{Gallery
| title = Rock python habitats
| width = 240
| height = 180
| align = center
|File:DjoudjPython.JPG|alt1=snake in grass|Central African
|File:Python
}}
==Ecology and biology==
===Feeding===
Like all pythons, the Central African rock python is non-venomous and kills by constriction.<ref name=Schmidt /><ref name=Oxford /> After gripping the prey, the snake coils around it, tightening its coils every time the victim breathes out. Death is thought to be caused by cardiac arrest rather than by asphyxiation or crushing.<ref name=Schmidt /> The African rock python feeds on a variety of large rodents, monkeys, warthogs, antelopes, vultures, fruit bats, monitor lizards, crocodiles, and more in forest areas,<ref name=Collins /> and on rats, poultry, dogs, and goats in suburban areas. It will sometimes take fish as well.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://animaldiversity.org/accounts/Python_sebae/|title = Python sebae (African Rock Python)| website=[[Animal Diversity Web]] }}</ref> Occasionally, it may eat the cubs of big cats such as leopards, lions, and cheetahs, cubs of hyenas, and puppies of wild dogs such as jackals and Cape hunting dogs.{{Citation needed|date=August 2015}}. However, these encounters are very rare, as the
===Reproduction===
[[File:Hatchling Python sebae Tropicario, FIN 1.jpg|thumb|Central African rock python emerging from egg]]
Reproduction occurs in the spring.<ref name="Meh87"/> Central African rock pythons are [[Oviparity|oviparious]], laying between 20 and 100 hard-shelled, elongated eggs in an old animal burrow, termite mound, or cave.<ref name=Holland /><ref name=Collins /> The female shows a surprising level of maternal care, coiling around the eggs, protecting them from predators, and possibly helping to incubate them, until they hatch around 90 days later.<ref name=Holland /><ref name=Schmidt /><ref name=Collins /> The female guards the hatchlings for up to two weeks after they hatch from their eggs to protect them from predators in a manner unusual for snakes in general and pythons in particular.<ref name="Alexander">{{cite book | last = Alexander| first = Graham |author2=Johan Marais | title = A Guide to the Reptiles of Southern Africa| publisher = Struik Publishers | year = 2008| isbn = 978-1-77007-386-9 }}</ref>
Hatchlings are between {{
==Human interaction==
===Attacks===
[[File:Bundesarchiv Bild 105-DOA0917, Deutsch-Ostafrika, Riesenschlange2.jpg|thumb|right|300px|alt=black and white photo, showing three African men dressed in loincloths holding an outstretched snake|Early 1900s,
Documented attacks on humans are exceptionally rare, despite the species being common in many regions of Africa, and living in diverse habitats including those with agricultural activity.<ref name=ark9/> Few deaths are well-substantiated, with no reports of a human being consumed.<ref name=ark9/> Large specimens (which are more common in Western Africa) "would have no difficulty in eating adult humans
==== Well-substantiated attacks ====
* A scholarly article published in 1980 said no prior well-substantiated fatalities were reported of humans killed by Central African rock pythons, and the only prior such attack by any type of python or boa was by a reticulated python in 1927.<ref name=ark9/>
* In 1999 in [[Centralia, Illinois]], a 3-year-old boy was suffocated during the night by an escaped {{convert|7.5|ft|adj=on|abbr=on|order=flip}} pet African rock python.<ref name=chitrib>{{cite news| work=Chicago Tribune | title=Centralia family's python suffocates 3-year-old boy | date=30 August 1999 | url=https://www.chicagotribune.com/1999/08/30/centralia-familys-python-suffocates-3-year-old-boy/ | access-date=31 March 2018}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=AGN: Couple acquitted in child's death by python |url=http://amarillo.com/stories/2000/03/25/usn_LA0687.shtml |date=25 March 2000|work=Amarillo Globe-News}}</ref> Bite marks around the boy's neck and ears may have resulted from an attempt to swallow him.<ref name=chitrib/>
* In 2013 in [[Campbellton, New Brunswick|Campbellton]], New Brunswick, Canada, two brothers aged four and six were reportedly killed by a {{convert|14|to|16|ft|adj=on|abbr=on|order=flip}}, {{convert|45|kg|adj=on|abbr=on}} Central African rock python kept by a pet shop owner.<ref name=cbc01>{{cite news| title=Reports into boys' python deaths still under wraps | work=CBC News | publisher=[[Canadian Broadcasting Corporation]] | date=12 September 2013 | url=http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/new-brunswick/reports-into-boys-python-deaths-still-under-wraps-1.1706099| access-date=31 March 2018}}</ref><ref name=boesveld/> The circumstances of the incident prompted some skepticism from experts not involved in the case.<ref name=boesveld>{{cite news | title='Very, very strange': Snake handlers, experts baffled by New Brunswick python attack | date=6 August 2013 | last=Boesveld | first=Sarah | work=National Post | publisher=Postmedia Network Inc. | url=http://news.nationalpost.com/2013/08/06/very-very-strange-snake-handlers-experts-baffled-by-new-brunswick-python-attack/ }}</ref> An autopsy showed that the boys died of asphyxiation,<ref name=cbc01/> which does not fit with how constricting snakes kill.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Gill|first=Victoria|title=Boa constrictors' lethal secret revealed|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-33625080|work=BBC News|date=23 July 2015|access-date=1 April 2018}}</ref> The owner was charged with [[criminal negligence]] for not adequately protecting the boys from the snake.<ref name=thestarcharged>{{cite news | title=Man charged in python asphyxiation death of boys| url=https://www.thestar.com/news/canada/2015/03/31/man-charged-in-python-asphyxiation-death-of-boys.html | publisher=Toronto Star | date=31 March 2015 | access-date=31 March 2018 }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |url=http://news.sky.com/story/man-charged-over-brothers-killed-by-python-10365431 |title=Man Charged over Brothers Killed by Python |access-date=2018-04-01 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170806062000/http://news.sky.com/story/man-charged-over-brothers-killed-by-python-10365431 |archive-date=2017-08-06 |url-status=live}}</ref> ''(See [[2013 New Brunswick python attack|main article]]).''
*In 2017, a {{cvt|8|ft|m|adj=mid|-long|order=flip}} female Central African rock python, kept as a pet in Hampshire, England, was found to have killed its owner by asphyxiation, according to a [[Inquests in England and Wales|coroner's inquest]].<ref>{{cite web|title=Snake owner killed by his pet python |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-hampshire-42801983 |website=BBC News|date=24 January 2018}}</ref>
==== Other reported attacks ====
* In 2009 in Sabaki Village, [[Malindi District]], Kenya, a male farm manager was reportedly attacked after stepping on a {{cvt|4|m|adj=on}} python, the exact species of which was not determined. After an hour's struggle, he was reportedly dragged up a tree, but was then rescued by police and villagers after he was able to call for help on his mobile phone.<ref name=nyassy/><ref name="BBC">{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/7999909.stm |title=Man bites snake in epic struggle |work=[[BBC News]] |date=15 April 2009 |access-date=15 April 2009}}</ref> The snake was reportedly captured by police, but had escaped and disappeared by the next day.<ref name=nyassy>{{ cite news|title=Man bites snake in hour-long battle to survive |date=14 April 2009 |last=Nyassy |first=Daniel |url=http://www.nation.co.ke/news/-/1056/560504/-/4wvt75z/-/index.html |work=Daily Nation |publisher=Nation Media Group |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131224100904/http://www.nation.co.ke/news/-/1056/560504/-/4wvt75z/-/index.html |archive-date=24 December 2013 }}</ref> The man said he bit the snake's tail while he was being attacked and was injured on his lower lip because the tip of the tail was sharp.<ref name=nyassy/>
===Bushmeat===
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===Conservation===
People are often fearful of large pythons and may kill them on sight.<ref name=Holland /><ref name=ark9/> The Central African rock python
Some of the Central African rock python's habitats are also known to be under threat. For example, mangrove and rainforest habitats and their snake communities are under serious threat in southeastern Nigeria from habitat destruction and exploration for the oil industry.<ref name=ark14/><ref name=ark15>{{cite journal|vauthors=Akani GC, Barieenee IF, Capizzi D, Luiselli L |s2cid=24757927|year=1999|title=Snake communities of moist rainforest and derived savanna sites of Nigeria: biodiversity patterns and conservation priorities|journal= Biodiversity and Conservation|volume= 8|pages=629–642|doi=10.1023/A:1008849702810|issue=5|bibcode=1999BiCon...8..629A }}</ref>
[[File:
The Central African rock python is still relatively common in many regions across Africa, and may adapt to disturbed habitats,<ref name=ark9/> provided that food is available.
{{Clear}}
In the Florida Everglades, where the Central African rock python is an invasive species and posing a threat to indigenous wildlife, it has no protected status and is one of the species listed on a hunting program recently authorized by state officials to eradicate non-native reptiles, the others being the [[Burmese python]], [[reticulated python]], [[green anaconda]], and [[Nile monitor]].<ref name="UFL-IFAS-wildlife">{{cite web | title=Invader Updater - Legislation | website=Department of Wildlife Ecology and Conservation | publisher=[[Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences]] (IFAS), UF |date=2010-06-03 | url=http://ufwildlife.ifas.ufl.edu/invaderupdater/legislation.shtml | access-date=2022-01-28}}</ref>
=== In culture ===
[[Luo people of Kenya and Tanzania|Luo people]] of [[Kenya]] living mainly in the area near [[Lake Victoria]] generally consider snakes to be evil and believe that [[wikt:jajuok|sorcerers]] make them harm people.<ref name="jhs2006">{{Cite journal|last=Smith|first=James H.|year=2006|jstor=24047925|title=Snake-driven development: Culture, nature and religious conflict in neoliberal Kenya|journal=Ethnography|volume=7|number=4|pages=423–59|doi=10.1177/1466138106073144|s2cid=220725054}}</ref>
In some parts of eastern Nigeria, particularly in the towns of Idemili in Anambra, the python is revered as a sacred symbol of the deity Eke Idemili. Similarly, in [[Njaba]], the Eke Njaba, a harmless snake regarded as the deity's property, is also held in high esteem. This reverence is so deeply ingrained culturally that even [[Christians]] in these areas have not fully renounced the sacredness of the snake, and any harm to the Eke Njaba requires ritual cleansing or even a proper burial when killed, to avoid the deity's wrath.{{cn|date=September 2024}}
==References==
{{ARKive attribute}}
{{Reflist
==Further reading==
*[[George Albert Boulenger|Boulenger GA]] (1893). ''Catalogue of the Snakes in the British Museum (Natural History). Volume I., Containing the Families ... Boidæ ...'' London: Trustees of the British Museum (Natural History). (Taylor and Francis, printers). xiii + 448 pp. + Plates I-XXVIII. (''Python sebae'', pp. 86–87).
*[[Johann Friedrich Gmelin|Gmelin JF]] (
==External links==
* {{
* {{
{{Pythonidae}}
{{Taxonbar|from=Q764797}}
[[Category:Python (genus)]]
[[Category:Snakes of Africa]]
[[Category:Fauna of Sub-Saharan Africa]]
[[Category:Reptiles described in
[[Category:Taxa named by Johann Friedrich Gmelin
[[Category:Reptiles as pets]]
[[Category:Apex predators]]
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