Central African rock python

The Central African rock python (Python sebae) is a species of large constrictor snake in the family Pythonidae. The species is native to sub-Saharan Africa. It is one of ten living species in the genus Python.

Central African rock python
Central African rock python after hunting a cormorant, Lake Naivasha, Kenya
Conservation status
Near Threatened  (IUCN 3.1)[1]
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Reptilia
Order:	Squamata
Suborder:	Serpentes
Family:	Pythonidae
Genus:	Python
Species:	P. sebae
Binomial name
Python sebae (Gmelin, 1789)
Range of Python sebae   Range of Python natalensis   Range of hybrids
Synonyms[2]
List Coluber sebae Gmelin, 1789 Coluber speciosus Bonnaterre, 1790 Boa hieroglyphica Schneider, 1801 Python houttuyni Daudin, 1803 Python liberiensis Hallowell, 1845 Hortulia sebae Gray, 1849 Boa liberiensis Hallowell, 1854 Python sebae Boettger, 1887 Python sebae Boulenger, 1893 Python jubalis Pitman, 1936 Python sebae sebae Broadley, 1983 Python sebae Branch, 1991 Python sebae Kluge, 1993

It is Africa's largest snake, and one of the eight largest snake species in the world, along with the green anaconda, reticulated python, Burmese python, Southern African rock python, Indian python, yellow anaconda and Australian scrub python. Specimens may approach or exceed 6 m (20 ft). The Southern African rock python is generally smaller than its northern relative and in general, the Central African rock python is regarded as one of the longest species of snake in the world. The snake is found in a variety of habitats, from forests to near deserts, although usually near sources of water. The snake becomes dormant during the dry season. The Central African rock python kills its prey by constriction and often eats animals up to the size of antelope, occasionally even crocodiles. The snake reproduces by egg-laying. Unlike most snakes, the female protects her nest and sometimes even her hatchlings.

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 sub-Saharan Africa consider it a delicacy, which may pose a threat to its population.

Taxonomy and etymology

The Central African rock python was first described by Johann Friedrich Gmelin, a German naturalist, in 1789.^[3] It is one of ten species in the genus Python, large constricting snakes found in the moist tropics of Asia and Africa.

The generic name Python is a Greek word referring to the enormous serpent at Delphi slain by Apollo in Greek mythology. The specific name sebae is a latinization of the surname of Dutch zoologist, Albertus Seba.^[4][5] Common name usage varies with the species referred to as the African rock python or simply the rock python.

Description

An 18th-century illustration

Africa's largest snake species^[6][7] and one of the world's largest,^[4] the Central African rock python adult measures 3 to 3.53 m (9 ft 10 in to 11 ft 7 in) in total length (including tail), with only unusually large specimens likely to exceed 4.8 m (15 ft 9 in). Reports of specimens over 6 m (19 ft 8 in) are considered reliable, although larger specimens have never been confirmed.^[8][9][10] Weights are reportedly in the range of 55 to 65 kg (121 to 143 lb) or more.^[11] Exceptionally large specimens may weigh 91 kg (201 lb) or more.^[12][13][14] On average, large adults of Central African rock pythons are quite heavily built, perhaps more so than most specimens of the somewhat longer reticulated as well as Indian and Burmese pythons and far more so than the amethystine python, although the species is on average less heavily built than the green anaconda. The species may be the second heaviest living snake with some authors agreeing that it can exceptionally exceed 90 kg (200 lb).^[15][16][17] One specimen, reportedly 7 m (23 ft 0 in) in length, was killed by K. H. Kroft in 1958 and was claimed to have had a 1.5 m (4 ft 11 in) juvenile Nile crocodile in its stomach.^[18] An even larger specimen considered authentic was shot in the Gambia and measured 7.5 m (24 ft 7 in).^[9][10]

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. Males are typically smaller than females.^[9] One individual captured in Cote d'Ivoire was allegedly 9.96 m (32.7 ft) long.^[19]

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.^[20][7] 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.^[21][7] Under the eye, there is a distinctive triangular marking, the subocular mark.^[20] Like all pythons, the scales of the African rock python are small and smooth.^[7][22] Those around the lips possess heat-sensitive pits, which are used to detect warm-blooded prey, even in the dark.^[21][22][23] Pythons also possess two functioning lungs, unlike more advanced snakes, which have only one, and also have small, visible pelvic spurs, believed to be the vestiges of hind limbs.^[22][23]

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".^[24]
• 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.^[24][25]
• The northern species has considerably larger head scales.^[24]
• Also, P. natalensis is typically smaller in size relative to P. sebae.^[25] P. natalensis reaches an average length of between 2.8 and 4 m^[26] (max.size measured 5.8 m.^[27]) and, while P. sebae with an average length between 2.7 and 4.6 m long^[28] (max.size measured 6.5 m.^[27]).
• 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.^[24]

Distribution and habitat

A Roman mosaic showing a Central African rock python from the southern Nile

The Central African rock python is found throughout much of tropical sub-Saharan Africa,^[29] from Senegal east to Ethiopia and Somalia and south to northern Angola and northern Tanzania.^[1][7] P. sebae ranges across central and western Africa, while P. natalensis has a more eastern and southerly range, from southern Kenya to South Africa.^[6]

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,^[20][30] and is found on the edges of swamps, lakes, and rivers.^[6][7] The snake also readily adapts to disturbed habitats, so is often found around human habitation,^[29] especially cane fields.^[4]

In 2009, a Central African rock python was found in the Florida Everglades.^[31] 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.^[8]

Rock python habitats

• 
  Central African rock python, Senegal National Park
• 
  Adult Central African rock python at the edge of a watering hole in Fathala Reserve, at Karang just north of the border to Gambia, Senegal

Ecology and biology

Feeding

Like all pythons, the Central African rock python is non-venomous and kills by constriction.^[21][23] 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.^[21] 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,^[7] and on rats, poultry, dogs, and goats in suburban areas. It will sometimes take fish as well.^[32] 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]}. However, these encounters are very rare, as the lions can easily kill pythons or fend them off.^[33][10] On 1 March 2017, a 3.9-m (12-ft 10-in) African rock python was filmed eating a large adult male spotted hyena weighing 70 kg (150 lb). This encounter suggests that the snake might very well be capable of hunting and killing larger and more dangerous animals than previously thought.^[34] The largest ever recorded meal of any snake was when a 4.9 m African Rock Python consumed a 59 kg impala.^[35]

Reproduction

Central African rock python emerging from egg

Reproduction occurs in the spring.^[4] Central African rock pythons are oviparious, laying between 20 and 100 hard-shelled, elongated eggs in an old animal burrow, termite mound, or cave.^[6][7] 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.^[6][21][7] 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.^[36]

Hatchlings are between 45 and 60 cm (17.5 and 23.5 in) in length and appear virtually identical to adults, except with more contrasting colours.^[4] Individuals may live over 12 years in captivity.^[37]