Jump to content

Bluff Downs giant python

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
This is an old revision of this page, as edited by Dexbot (talk | contribs) at 08:29, 29 August 2015 (Bot: Deprecating Template:Cite doi and some minor fixes). The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this revision, which may differ significantly from the current revision.

Bluff Downs giant python
Scientific classification
Kingdom:
Phylum:
Subphylum:
Class:
Order:
Suborder:
Family:
Genus:

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