Python

Python, Old World equivalent of the New World boa, a snake bearing small spurs as the vestiges of hindlimbs. These two groups are clearly the closest relatives of the ancestral snake type. Like boas, pythons are nonvenomous constrictors. They are found from Africa to Australia in a wide variety of habitats. All have bold color patterns in browns and yellows. The largest species, the reticulate python of Asia, reaches 33 ft (10.1 m). Pythons feed on small mammals, birds, reptiles, and frogs; the larger African species also feed on small antelopes.