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The Pythonidae, commonly known as pythons, are a family of nonvenomous snakes found in Africa, Asia, and Australia. Among its members are some of the largest snakes in the world. Ten genera and 39 species are currently recognized. Being naturally non-venomous, pythons must constrict their prey to induce cardiac arrest prior to consumption.
Although some species of venomous and mildly venomous snakes do use constriction to subdue their prey, most snakes which use constriction lack venom. [1] The snake strikes at its prey and holds on, pulling the prey into its coils or, in the case of very large prey, pulling itself onto the prey.
Wild pythons, however, are known to sometimes prey on humans, particularly in their natural habitat in Sulawesi, Indonesia. Considering the known maximum prey size, a full-grown reticulated python can open its jaws wide enough to swallow a human, but the width of the shoulders of some adult Homo sapiens can pose a problem for even a snake with ...
It catches much of its prey in burrows where there is not enough room to maneuver coils around the prey; instead, the woma pushes a loop of its body against the animal to pin it against the side of the burrow. Many adult womas are covered in scars from retaliating rodents as this technique does not kill prey as quickly as normal constriction. [11]
Iguanas can freeze and fall from trees, then become easy prey; pythons can shiver to stay alive from the cold weather.
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In South Florida, a measurement on the longest Burmese python, at 19 feet, along with two other large snakes, at 15 and 17 feet, proved that the snakes have a bigger gape than previous ...
Other important prey include geckos, bearded dragons, legless lizards and the perentie, the largest monitor lizard native to Australia, [6] as well as other black-headed pythons. [7] When ingesting large prey, it positions one or two coils just ahead of its distended mouth and by constriction makes the task of swallowing easier. [citation needed]