Pythonidae

The Pythonidae, commonly known as pythons, are a family of non-venomous 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. Pythons will typically strike at and bite their prey of choice to gain hold of it; they then must use physical strength to constrict their prey, by coiling their muscular bodies around the animal, effectively suffocating it before swallowing whole. This is in stark contrast to venomous snakes such as the rattlesnake, for example, which delivers a swift, venomous bite but releases, waiting as the prey succumbs to envenomation before being consumed. Collectively, the pythons are well-documented and studied as constrictors, much like other non-venomous snakes, including the boas and even kingsnakes of the New World.

Pythonidae

Tigerpython · CC BY-SA 3.0 · via Wikipedia/Commons. May be a photograph of a specimen, or an artist’s reconstruction — an interpretation of a skeleton, since colour and soft tissue are almost never preserved.

On record

Recorded, not inferred
Also called
pythonPBDB
Sits inside
HenophidiaPBDB
Diet
carnivorePBDB
Life habit
ground dwellingPBDB
Motility
actively mobilePBDB, for Osteichthyes
Environment
terrestrialPBDB

Time the record covers

At least 23 million years on record.

The record covers at least 23.04 Mya to 11.7 ka. No occurrence read is dated outside 27.3 Mya to 0 Mya.

Oligocene — about 2 of 29 occurrencesOligoceneMiocene — about 19 of 29 occurrencesMiocenePliocene — about 6 of 29 occurrencesPliocenePleistocene — about 1 of 29 occurrencesPleistocene28–27 Mya — about 0.2 occurrences27–26 Mya — about 0.4 occurrences26–25 Mya — about 0.4 occurrences25–24 Mya — about 0.4 occurrences24–23 Mya — about 0.4 occurrences23–22 Mya — about 0.4 occurrences22–21 Mya — about 0.4 occurrences21–20 Mya — about 0.4 occurrences20–19 Mya — about 0.8 occurrences19–19 Mya — about 0.8 occurrences19–18 Mya — about 0.8 occurrences18–17 Mya — about 0.8 occurrences17–16 Mya — about 1 occurrence16–15 Mya — about 3 occurrences15–14 Mya — about 3 occurrences14–13 Mya — about 2 occurrences13–12 Mya — about 2 occurrences12–11 Mya — about 1 occurrence11–10 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences10–9.3 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences9.3–8.4 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences8.4–7.4 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences7.4–6.5 Mya — about 0.3 occurrences6.5–5.6 Mya — about 0.3 occurrences5.6–4.6 Mya — about 2 occurrences4.6–3.7 Mya — about 3 occurrences3.7–2.8 Mya — about 0.5 occurrences2.8–1.9 Mya — about 0.0 occurrences928 ka–0 Mya — about 2 occurrences23.04 Mya11.7 ka27.8 Mya0 Mya

29 occurrences of Pythonidae on record, most of them in the Miocene. The Paleobiology Database records this as a living group. Bar height is expected occurrences, not a count: each fossil is spread across the span it is dated to, so a tall narrow bar means tight dating and a low wide one means loose.

When

29 occurrences

These are dates about fossils, not the animal: the record can only begin after it arose and end before it died out, so either end may reach further. Shares are expected occurrences: a fossil dated to a span is counted partly in each period it straddles. More on what this infers.

Found in

8 formations

Allingham — 19.72°S, 145.60°EMaboko — 0.17°N, 34.62°EMaboko — 0.15°N, 34.62°ECarl Creek Limestone — 19.08°S, 138.72°ECamfield Beds — 17.12°S, 131.52°ELothagam 1 — 2.88°N, 36.07°ENawata and Nachukui — 2.88°N, 36.07°EHiwegi — 0.41°S, 34.15°ESystem B — 19.01°S, 138.67°E

Loading coastlines…

The named rock units Pythonidae has been recovered from, largest first. Drawn where the rock is now, not where it formed. 13 occurrences have no formation on record, which is common for older literature.

Pythonidae and its relatives

Miocene

Where Pythonidae and its relatives were recorded in the Miocene.

Found in the same rock

316 taxa

The Paleobiology Database records 25 sites for Pythonidae, and this reads all of them. The number is how many of those sites it was catalogued from too. The 24 sharing the most are listed.

This is not a list of everything alive at the time. It is only what has come out of the same ground as this animal and been written down.

Entered from

14 references

Each of the 29 occurrences read was entered from one of these publications, ordered by how many each accounts for. This is not a search for papers mentioning the name. 2 further references are not listed. Entries link to doi.org where the Paleobiology Database holds an identifier, and to its own record where it does not. Relayed as the Paleobiology Database holds them, not checked against what they resolve to.

Media and terms

Media content1

Picture of Pythonidae

Credit
Tigerpython
Licence
CC BY-SA 3.0
Commercial use
the licence allows it

No 3D scan was found. Smithsonian Open Access, MorphoSource and Sketchfab were all searched.

The description on this site

Licence
CC BY-SA 4.0

This is what the site found, which is not the same as what exists.

Keep going

Everything alive alongside itHenophidia through timeFormations of the MioceneThe world it lived on

Occurrence data from the Paleobiology Database, CC BY 4.0. (Fitzinger 1826)