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Text and photos by Nick Baker, unless otherwise stated

 EcologyAsia 2008
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Papuan Olive Python
   

A large 4-metre specimen, Southern Highlands Province, PNG.
 

Family : BOIDAE
Species : Apodora papuana
Maximum Size : 4.3 metres

References : H6

Photos thanks to Anon

One of the largest of Papua New Guinea's snakes, the Papuan Olive Python is a species of rainforests and savanna.
   
 
   
 
 

The head is short and blunt, and possesses large, unfragmented scales.
 

Its body is thick and stocky, and reaches over 4 metres in length. The head is short and blunt, and slightly wider than the body.

Dorsal scale colour is of various tones of brown or grey-brown, and is lighter on the lower flanks and darker on the higher flanks and upper surface. The underside is lighter in colour, as are the lips, chin and throat. The eyes are medium in size, with vertical pupils. Some specimens may possess a dark stripe behind the eye.

Its diet comprises mainly mammals : typically pythons will identify by scent the regular pathway of a forest floor mammal, and then wait in ambush for an opportune moment to strike its passing prey.

The Papuan Olive Python is widely distributed in mainland Papua New Guinea and a few offshore islands. It also ranges westwards to the Indonesian province of Papua (formerly Irian Jaya).