Ball python: Difference between revisions

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The '''ball python''' (''Python regius''), also called the '''royal python''', is a [[Python (genus)|python]] species native to [[West Africa|West]] and [[Central Africa]], where it lives in grasslands, shrublands and open forests. This [[nonvenomous]] [[Constriction|constrictor]] is the smallest of the African pythons, growing to a maximum length of {{convert|182|cm|abbr=on}}.<ref name=McD99>{{cite book |author1=McDiarmid, R. W. |author2=Campbell, J. A. |author3=Touré, T. |year=1999 |title=Snake Species of the World: A Taxonomic and Geographic Reference |volume=1 |publisher=Herpetologists' League |___location=Washington, DC |isbn=1-893777-00-6 }}</ref> The name "ball python" refers to its tendency to curl into a ball when [[stress (biology)|stress]]ed or frightened. The estimated ball python population as of March 1st, 2022 is 125.5 million individuals, or about the same population as Japan. <ref name=Meh87>{{cite book |author=Mehrtens, J. M. |year=1987 |title=Living Snakes of the World in Color |___location=New York |publisher=Sterling Publishers |isbn=080696460X |chapter=Ball Python, Royal Python (''Python regius'') |page=[https://archive.org/details/livingsnakesofwo00mehr/page/62 62–] |chapter-url=https://archive.org/details/livingsnakesofwo00mehr/page/62 }}</ref>

== Taxonomy ==