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G Iant Snakes Copyrighted Material Some pages are omitted from this book preview. Giant Snakes Giant Giant Snakes A Natural History John C. Murphy & Tom Crutchfield Snakes, particularly venomous snakes and exceptionally large constricting snakes, have haunted the human brain for a millennium. They appear to be responsible for our excellent vision, as well as the John C. Murphy & Tom Crutchfield & Tom C. Murphy John anxiety we feel. Despite the dangers we faced in prehistory, snakes now hold clues to solving some of humankind’s most debilitating diseases. Pythons and boas are capable of eating prey that is equal to more than their body weight, and their adaptations for this are providing insight into diabetes. Fascination with snakes has also drawn many to keep them as pets, including the largest species. Their popularity in the pet trade has led to these large constrictors inhabiting southern Florida. This book explores what we know about the largest snakes, how they are kept in captivity, and how they have managed to traverse ocean barriers with our help. Copyrighted Material Some pages are omitted from this book preview. Copyrighted Material Some pages are omitted from this book preview. Giant Snakes A Natural History John C. Murphy & Tom Crutchfield Copyrighted Material Some pages are omitted from this book preview. Giant Snakes Copyright © 2019 by John C. Murphy & Tom Cructhfield All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means including information storage and retrieval systems, without permission in writing from the publisher. Printed in the United States of America First Printing March 2019 ISBN 978-1-64516-232-2 Paperback ISBN 978-1-64516-233-9 Hardcover Published by: Book Services www.BookServices.us ii Copyrighted Material Some pages are omitted from this book preview. This book is dedicated to the survival of Giant Snakes around the world. iii Copyrighted Material Some pages are omitted from this book preview. Giant Snakes Front Cover: Nathalie Aall Back Cover: Reticulated Python (Michael J. Jowers), Yellow Anaconda (JCM), Reticulated Python (JCM), Green Anaconda (Bill Lamar) Inside Front Cover: Reticulated Python (JCM) Inside Back Cover: Reticulated Python, Tiger Morph (JCM) Inside Dedication page: Ceylonese Python, Python molurus pimbrura. JCM iv Copyrighted Material Some pages are omitted from this book preview. Acknowledgments The authors offer their sincerest thanks to the following individuals for their photographs, stories, and helpful comments. For comments on the manuscript and personal stories we thank: Steve Barten, Harry Green, Tom Lorenz, Paul Moler, Gordon Schuett, Russ Gurley, Ron St. Pierre, Nick Leszai, Ken McCloud, Sara Murphy, Joe Sambono, Vic Morgan, Janet Weems, and Andrew Wyatt. Heinz Wilhelm helped us with translations; Ricky Duffield provided info on the warehouse of pythons that was supposedly blown away. Monique Crutchfield and Penny Crutchfield helped TC (Tom Crutchfield) in recalling events. The authors greatly appreciate the use of photos from the following: Gavin Bedford, Myke Clarkson, Maheta Jaydeep, Arno Naude, Bill Lamar- Green Tracks, Bill and Kathy Love, Bill Stiffler, Breck Bartholomew, Chris Gillette, Clarence Aber- crombie, Cor Viljoen, Joe Fauci, Joe Sambono, Joe Wasilewski, Jose Luis Ulgade Trejo, Kevin McCurley- New England Reptile, Max Jackson, Michael Powell, Ron Ramsey, Mike Rochford, Ray Van Nostrand Sr., Rhett Stranberry, Renato Yabiku - Huachipa Zoo, Michelle Sutton, Sebastian Holch, Tal Feinberg and Tom Lorenz -Georgia Southwestern State University. The cover art was done by Nathalie Aall at aallformsoflife.com. The images that start each chapter are as follows: “Anxiety, Vision and Snakes” is a painting titled “The Boa Constrictor” (1867) by Aloys Zötl, an Austrian artist known for his paintings of natural history subjects. “Size and Shape” is a North African Python (JCM). “Snake Origins & Biology” illustrates a Burmese Python pelvic girdle in a cleared and stained specimen (JCM.) “Pythonids, an Overview” is a juvenile Green Tree Python (JCM). “Giant Constrictors of Australasia” is a large Scrub Python (Joe Sambono). “Giant Pythons of the Afro-Asian Clade” is a North African Python (Michelle Sutton). “The Reticulated Python Clade” is a Reticu- lated Python (JCM). “Booid Snakes, an Overview” is a Ruschenberger’s Treeboa (JCM). “The Anaconda Clade, Giant Aquatic Boas” illustrates a Green Anaconda (Bill Lamar). The Boa Constrictor Clade is a Boa imperator (JCM). “Giant Snakes in Captivity” shows two exceptionally large Burmese Pythons, one a color morph, the other a wild morph (Jose Luis Ulgade Trejo). “Giant Snakes in Florida” is a Burmese Python in a cypress swamp in southern Florida (Chris Gillette). “Extinct Giant Snakes” is a highly modified Green Anaconda (Bill Lamar). � v Copyrighted Material Some pages are omitted from this book preview. Preface Since the publication of Tales of Giant Snakes (Murphy and Henderson, 1997), much of what we know about the largest snakes in the world has changed. The fossil record has revealed remains of a truly colossal snake, Titanoboa, that was living in northeastern Colombia 58 to 60 Ma. Evidence and hypotheses about how snakes evolved their giant size have become more detailed, and ecological field studies of giant snakes have become much more common. Giant and near-giant snakes are more popular than ever in the pet trade; these “designer snakes” are bred in captivity for their unique colors and patterns. The novelty skin industry is consuming giant snakes in higher numbers than ever before. Giant snakes have become invasive in southern Florida. Of lesser importance, the record Murphy and Henderson (1997) considered as representing the largest known extant snake has proved to be false. This has happened to many previous records believed to be valid. Extant giant snakes do not get as long or as massive as most people think based on the liberal acceptance of old and unreliable records that have been published and republished for many years. Murphy and Henderson (1997) defined giant snakes as those species that exceed 20 feet (6.1 m). In this book, we will continue with that definition for giant species and describe the near-giant species as those that approach 6.1 m, but may not reach it. At this point, the extant giant snakes appear to be the Green Anaconda (Eunectes murinus) of South America, the Reticulated Python (Malayopython reticulatus) and Burmese Python (Python bivittatus) of Southeast Asia, the South African Python (Python natalensis), North African Python (Python sebae) from sub-Saharan Africa, and Kinghorn’s Scrub Python (Morelia kinghorni) of northern Australia. Near-giants are the Indian Python (Python molurus), and the Western Olive Python (Liasis olivaceus barroni) from northern Australia. Other species that obtain significant size are discussed: the Oenpelli Python Simalia( oenpelliensis) from Australia, the Papuan Python (Apodora papuana) from New Guinea, and the Cuban Boa, (Chilabothrus angulifer). A discussion of the Boa Constrictor (Boa constrictor) is included, not because it’s a giant snake—but because so many people think it is! On March 6, 2015, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFW) finalized the Constrictor Rule, a controversial policy designed to reduce the probability that more invasive constricting snakes will find their way into ecosystems in the U.S. The Constrictor Rule declared the Reticulated Python, DeSchauensee’s Anaconda, Green Anaconda and Beni Anaconda as “injurious” under the Lacey Act. A fifth species, the Boa Constrictor, was removed from consideration for listing as an inju- rious wildlife species after an outcry from keepers of pet snakes and their lobbying vii Copyrighted Material Some pages are omitted from this book preview. Giant Snakes organization, the United States Association of Reptile Keepers (USARK), applied political pressure for the Boa Constrictor removal from the listing. The rule sparked considerable controversy because these species are in the pet trade and the designer snake industry, and some are already established as invasive species in southern Florida. This book is not intended to be a platform for political activism. It is about science, natural history, and how humans and exceptionally large serpents relate to each other. Both authors have kept giant and near-giant snakes in captivity for decades, and we can sympathize with those who want to maintain and breed giant snakes in captivity. They are amazing animals, and there is much to be learned from their lives in captivity as well as in the wild. Keeping them in captivity is challenging because of their size and food requirements, and we discuss this at length in one of the chapters. However, in a foreign landscape, they are capable of devastating the local fauna. The argument for keeping giant snakes in captivity can be reduced to individual rights versus the common environmental good. This book is not a reworked Tales of Giant Snakes. It is an updated look at the scientific and popular literature, as well as personal experiences and those of people the authors know. It is intended to provide a context for giant snakes and their many relationships with humans. If you are a reader unfamiliar with the term clade, it refers to an ancestor and all of its descendants. Clades by definition are monophyletic; that is, they have one ancestor. Thus, a group of species that shared a common ancestor forms a clade. In traditional classification, a genus is a clade. In traditional classification, all the members of a family, in theory, should share a single ancestor, making it also a clade. Although this book was written for the general public, we have included a section targeted to people who keep giant snakes as pets but may not be as familiar with them as we are. Generating an appreciation of giant snakes, their evolution, and the science that builds knowledge of the natural world are also on our list of goals for this book.
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