Bluff Downs giant python

Bluff Downs giant python
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Subphylum: Vertebrata
Class: Reptilia
Order: Squamata
Suborder: Serpentes
Family: Pythonidae
Genus: Liasis

The Bluff Downs giant python (Liasis dubudingala) is an extinct species of snake from Queensland, Australia, that lived during the Early Pliocene.[1]

The Bluff Downs giant python hunted mammals, birds and reptiles in the woodlands and vine thickets bordering Australian watercourses during Pliocene times. Its nearest living relative is the olive python (Liasis olivacea).

Size

The Bluff Downs giant python is estimated to have grown to 10 m (33 ft), making it at least a metre longer than the world's two longest snakes - the anaconda of South America and the reticulated python of Asia.

Fossils

Fossilised vertebrae, teeth and rib fragments of the Bluff Downs python were found in 1992 at Bluff Downs in northeastern Queensland.

References

  1. Scanlon, J. D.; MacKness, B. S. (2001). "A new giant python from the Pliocene Bluff Downs Local Fauna of northeastern Queensland". Alcheringa: an Australasian Journal of Palaeontology 25 (4): 425. doi:10.1080/03115510108619232.

Sources


This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the Monday, February 01, 2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.