by Peter Rowland | Tuesday, October 27, 2020
Blind Snakes (Family: Typhlopidae) There are around 46 species of blind snakes belonging to the genus Anilios (previously Ramphotyphlops) in Australia, mostly restricted to the south-east. They are small ‘worm-like’ burrowing snakes that are largely pink...
by Peter Rowland | Tuesday, October 27, 2020
Colubrid Snakes (Family: Colubridae) The colubrids are a group of solid-toothed and rear-fanged snakes. With 249 genera, it is the largest snake family, although only ten species occur in Australia. Many Australian colubrids are aquatic or semi-aquatic, but the group...
by Peter Rowland | Tuesday, October 27, 2020
File Snakes (Family: Acrochordidae) File snakes are totally aquatic fish-eating snakes, characterised by their loose, baggy skin covered with coarse scales. File snakes produce live young. Two species are found in Australia. The Arafura File Snake (Acrochordus...
by Peter Rowland | Tuesday, October 27, 2020
Pythons (Family: Pythonidae) Pythons do not use venom to kill their prey, instead their prey is first subdued with the sharp, rear-facing teeth, and then the snake’s body is wrapped around it, gradually getting more tightly coiled each time the helpless victim...
by Peter Rowland | Monday, October 19, 2020
Reptiles (Class: Reptilia) A diverse group of vertebrate animals that includes lizards, snakes, tuataras, turtles, amphisbaenians and crocodiles, all of which have scales. Their body temperature varies depending on their surroundings (ectothermic), and many species...