Reticulated python: Difference between revisions

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The reticulated python is the largest snake native to Asia. More than a thousand wild reticulated pythons in southern [[Sumatra]] were studied, and estimated to have a length range of {{convert|1.5|to|6.5|m|ftin|abbr=on}}, and a weight range of {{convert|1|to|75|kg|lboz|abbr=on}}.<ref name=Shine>{{cite journal|vauthors=[[Richard Shine|Shine R]], [[species:Peter S. Harlowe|Harlow PS]], [[species:J. Scott Keogh|Keogh JS]], [[species:Boeadi|Boeadi]] |year=1998|title=The influence of sex and body size on food habits of a giant tropical snake, ''Python reticulatus'' |journal=Functional Ecology |volume=12 |issue=2 |pages=248–258| doi=10.1046/j.1365-2435.1998.00179.x |s2cid=46957156|doi-access= |bibcode=1998FuEco..12..248S}}</ref> Reticulated pythons with lengths more than {{convert|6|m|ftin|abbr=on}} are rare, though according to the ''[[Guinness Book of World Records]]'', it is the only extant snake to regularly exceed that length.<ref name = "Wood">{{cite book | author=Wood, G. |title=The Guinness Book of Animal Facts and Feats |year=1983 |publisher=Guinness Superlatives |isbn=978-0-85112-235-9}}</ref> One of the largest scientifically measured specimens, from [[Balikpapan]], [[East Kalimantan]], [[Indonesia]], was measured under anesthesia at {{convert|6.95|m|ftin|abbr=on}} and weighed {{convert|59|kg|lboz|abbr=on}} after not having eaten for nearly 3 months.<ref name="Fre05"/>

The specimen once widely accepted as the largest-ever "accurately" measured snake, that being Colossus, a specimen kept at the Highland Park Zoo (now the [[Pittsburgh Zoo and Aquarium]]) in [[Pittsburgh]], [[Pennsylvania]], during the 1950s and early 1960s, with a peak reported length of {{convert|8.7|m|ftin}} from a measurement in November 1956, was later shown to have been substantially shorter than previously reported. When Colossus died on 14 April 19631964, its body was deposited in the [[Carnegie Museum of Natural History]]. At that time, its skeleton was measured and found to be {{convert|20|ft|10|in|m|abbr=on}} in total length, and the length of its fresh hide was measured as {{convert|23|ft|11|in|m|abbr=on}}.<ref name=Bar12/> The hide tends to stretch from the skinning process, thus may be longer than the snake from which it came – e.g., by roughly 20–40% or more.<ref name=Mur97/> The previous reports had been constructed by combining partial measurements with estimations to compensate for "kinks", since completely straightening an extremely large live python is virtually impossible. Because of these issues, a 2012 journal article concluded, "Colossus was neither the longest snake nor the heaviest snake ever maintained in captivity." Too large to be preserved with [[formaldehyde]] and then stored in [[ethanol|alcohol]], the specimen was instead prepared as a disarticulated skeleton. The hide was sent to a laboratory to be [[Tanning (leather)|tanned]], but it was either lost or destroyed, and now only the skull and selected vertebrae and ribs remain in the museum's collection.<ref name=Bar12>{{cite journal |last1=Barker |first1=David G. |last2=Barten |first2=Stephen L. |last3=Ehrsam |first3=Jonas P. |author3-link=species:Jonas P. Ehrsam |last4=Daddono |first4=Louis |year=2012 |title=The Corrected Lengths of Two Well-known Giant Pythons and the Establishment of a new Maximum Length Record for Burmese Pythons, ''Python bivittatus '' |journal= Bull. Chicago Herp. Soc. |volume=47 |issue=1 |pages=1–6 |url=http://www.vpi.com/sites/default/files/Barker-et-al_CorrectPythonLengths_2.pdf |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20221009/http://www.vpi.com/sites/default/files/Barker-et-al_CorrectPythonLengths_2.pdf |archive-date=2022-10-09 |url-status=live}}</ref> Considerable confusion exists in the literature over whether Colossus was male or female (females tend to be larger).<ref name=Bar12/><ref name=Mur97/>

Numerous reports have been made of larger snakes, but since none of these was measured by a scientist nor any of the specimens deposited at a museum, they must be regarded as unproven and possibly erroneous. In spite of what has been, for many years, a standing offer of a large financial reward (initially $1,000, later raised to $5,000, then $15,000 in 1978 and $50,000 in 1980) for a live, healthy snake {{convert|30|ft|m|2|abbr=on}} or longer by the [[New York Zoological Society]] (later renamed as the Wildlife Conservation Society), no attempt to claim this reward has ever been made.<ref name="Mur97">{{cite book|first1=John C.|last1=Murphy|author-link=species:John C. Murphy |first2=Robert W. |last2=Henderson|author2-link=species:Robert W. Henderson |date=1997|title=Tales of Giant Snakes: A Historical Natural History of Anacondas and Pythons |publisher=Krieger Publishing Co.|isbn=978-0-89464-995-0|pages=24–26, 35, 47–50, 55–56}}</ref>