PYTHON : AJGAR

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1) PYTHON : AJGAR

1.1) CLASSIFICATION OF PYTHON : AJGAR

1.2) GEOGRAPHICAL DISTRIBUTION

1.3) HABIT AND HABITAT

1.4) GENERAL CHARACTERSTICS OF PYTHON : AJGAR

1.5) Special features

1.6) Identification

CLASSIFICATION OF PYTHON : AJGAR

PHYLUM :- CHORDATA (Notochord, dorsal tubular nerve cord present and gill slits present )

Group :- CRANIATA ( Definite head. Cranium with brain present )

Sub-phylum :- VERTEBRATA ( vertebral column present)

Division :- GNATHOSTOMATA ( Jaws and paired appendages present )

Super class :- TETRAPODA ( Paired limbs, lungs, bony skeleton and cornified skin)

Class :- REPTILIA ( Scaly vertebrates with right and left aortic arches. Single condyle, pulmonary respiration. Embryo with amnion and allantois ).

Sub-class :- DIAPSIDA ( Skull with two temporal openings separated by postorbital and squamosal ).

Order :- SQUAMATA ( Lizards and snakes with horny epidermal scales or shields. Quadrate bone movable. Vertebrae procoelous. Anal opening transverse).

Sub-order :- OPHIDIA ( Snakes. Limbs, feet, ear openings sternum and urinary bladder absent. Mandibles jointed anteriorly by ligament. Tongue slender, bifid and protrusible. Left lung reduced).

Family :- BOIDAE ( Vestiges of pelvic girdle and hind limb as 2 spurs on ventral sides ).

Genus :- Python : AJGAR

GEOGRAPHICAL DISTRIBUTION

Python has world-wide distribution except New Zealand.

HABIT AND HABITAT

They are found mostly on ground, in trees of tropical jungle, in dry, rocky or sandy places. They kill birds, goats, sheep, deer, cows, dogs, horses and even tigers. They can also swim in water. Oviparous.

GENERAL CHARACTERSTICS OF PYTHON : AJGAR

Commonly called Ajgar which is a very favourite snake in a serpentarium.
Ajgar is massive, voluminous, measuring about 10 metres in length, and weighing nearly 110 kg.
Body is covered with small scales in 60-75 rows. Body divided into head, neck, trunk and tail. Head contains mouth, nostril and paired functional eyes with vertical pupil and without eyelids.
Dorsal side has brown pigmentation with dark grey rhomboid edged spots while ventral side is greyish with yellow brown spots.
Mandibles, pterygoids, palatines, maxillae and premaxilla contain teeth. Maxilla, palatine and pterygoid movable.
Rostral scale of head contains a deep thermo-receptive pit. Lancet-shaped brown mark present over head Parietal, loreal and temporal regions are covered with irregular plates. Supra-labials 11-13, 1st to contain pit and 7th touching eye, infralabials 16-18.

Special features

Python is very lethargic but during feeding and on seeing prey, it becomes very active and coils around the prey. It kills the prey by pressing within the coils of its massive muscular body and gradually it shoves the prey. Indian Python is P. molurus. It is one of the largest living serpent.