What Is the Difference Between a Boa Constrictor & a Python?
Although there are quite a few similarities between boa constrictors and pythons, these potentially large snakes have some differences. These distinctions involve geography, physical characteristics and reproductive traits.
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Similar Attributes
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Python Both types of snakes can grow to great lengths and possess two lungs. They kill their prey by biting it and by wrapping their muscular coils around it. Then the snake squeezes the victim so tightly that it can no longer breathe, suffocating it.
Geography
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Pythons exist only in the Old World, in tropical areas such as Africa, Australia and portions of Asia. The various boa species live in both the Old World and the New, with different types existing in the Western hemisphere.
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Egg Versus Born Live
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The pythons reproduce by laying eggs, which eventually hatch and produce the young snakes while the boa constrictor young are born live. The baby boas will develop in the mother within a small yolk sac rather than a typical eggshell.
Physical Differences
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Python species have one bone in their heads that boa constrictors lack and have a few more teeth than the boa does.
Misconceptions
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The San Diego Zoo website states that even though many people are under the impression that the anaconda, the world's longest snake, is a separate species from pythons and boas. Nevertheless, it is actually a type of boa constrictor.
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References
- Photo Credit Image by Flickr.com, courtesy of Kate Gardiner Image by Flickr.com, courtesy of Olivier Image by Flickr.com, courtesy of Cristóbal Alvarado Minic
