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Green Tree Python — printable fact sheet
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Green Tree Python
Morelia viridis
Morelia viridis of New Guinea, the Cape York Peninsula and nearby islands is the classic case of ontogenetic colour change in a snake: hatchlings emerge either bright lemon-yellow or brick-red, and over weeks to months in their first year they switch to the adult emerald green. …
Did you know?
- Despite their name, Green Tree Pythons are not closely related to true pythons but show remarkable convergent evolution with the emerald tree boa of South America.
- In some New Guinea populations red and yellow hatchlings appear in the same clutch, and the two morphs converge on the same green adult, so there is no way to tell which colour an adult started as. The famous coil-and-head-in-the-middle posture is not just for rest; it is the launch position, letting the snake fire the front half of the body downward at prey passing below. Wild-caught animals laundered through Indonesian "captive breeding" facilities have been a persistent problem in the trade for this species.
What I learned
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