Python,the common name for a group of non-venomous constricting snakes, specifically the family Pythonidae. Other sources consider this group a subfamily of the Boas (Pythoninae). Pythons are more related to boas than to any other snake-family. There is also a genus within Pythonidae which carries the name Python (Daudin, 1803). Pythons are distinguishable from boas in that they have teeth on the premaxilla, a small bone at the very front and center of the upper jaw. Most boas produce live young, while pythons produce eggs. Some species of sand boas (Ericinae) are also called python.
Sheep in a snake
Sounds like a great name for a film, eh? In fact, we just cannot resist posting this picture of a python that has swallowed a pregnant ewe.
The photo was taken in the Malaysian village of Kampung Jabor, east of Kuala Lumpur. The Reuters caption adds that the six-metre reptile weighed 90kg and was "too laden to move, making it easy for firemen to capture it".
