Pygmy python: Difference between revisions

Revision as of 09:21, 26 June 2024

Revision as of 21:01, 26 June 2024

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The '''pygmy python''' ('''''Antaresia perthensis'''''), also known as the '''anthill python''', is a [[species]] of snake found in [[Western Australia]]. Their common names are due to their being the smallest member of the family [[Pythonidae]] and often being found in [[Termite#Mounds|termite mounds]]. No subspecies are currently recognised.<ref name="ITIS">{{ITIS|id=634766|taxon=''Antaresia perthensis''|accessdate=17 August 2007}}</ref>

The [[Binomial nomenclature|specific epithet]] is derived from the Western Australian [[States and territories of Australia|state]] capital, [[Perth, Western Australia|Perth]]—a city which is not, ironically, within the range of the species. The global [[biodiversity]] database [[iNaturalist]] has documented a number of different visual sightings of the pygmy python within the state of Western Australia, with the nearest physical sighting to Perth having occurred near [[Reedy, Western Australia|Reedy]], some 680 km (422.53 mi) north and slightly further inland of the capital.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Observations • iNaturalist |url=https://www.inaturalist.org/observations?verifiable=true&taxon_id=32141 |url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="Bush">{{cite book |author1=Browne-Cooper, R. |author2=Bush, B. |author3=Maryan, B. |author4=Robinson, D. |title= Reptiles and Frogs in the Bush: Southwestern Australia|year= 2007|publisher= [[University of Western Australia]] Press|isbn= 978-1-920694-74-6 |chapter= Houtman Abrolhos }}</ref>

==Description==

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The pygmy python is native to Australia, primarily [[Endemism|endemic]] to the northwestern regions of the state of Western Australia and on some coastal islands. The [[Type (biology)#Use of type specimens|type locality]] given is "Perth, West Australia" (Western Australia), an erroneous assumption of the place where the specimen was collected. This historical unfamiliarity of Europeans with the place of a specimen's collection has given rise to other 'naming peculiarities'.<ref name ="Bush"/> According to L.A. Smith (1985), the type locality is unknown.<ref name="McD99"/>

The pygmy python has a number of confirmed visual sightings entered on [[iNaturalist]] (a global biodiversity website, app and nature-minded social network); sightings have been documented in and around several areas of Western Australia, including [[Cape Range National Park]], [[Dampier, Western Australia|Dampier]], [[De Grey, Western Australia|De Grey]], [[Lyons River|East Lyons River]], the [[Hamersley Range]] and [[Karijini National Park]], [[Marble Bar, Western Australia|Marble Bar]], the [[Murujuga]] (Burrup) Peninsula, [[Pannawonica, Western Australia|Pannawonica]], [[Peedamulla]], and [[Port Hedland, Western Australia|Port Hedland]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=Observations • iNaturalist |url=https://www.inaturalist.org/observations?place_id=6827&subview=map&taxon_id=32141 |url-status=live}}</ref>

==Housing==