constrictor snake

Close-up of a coiled python snake with detailed scales and patterned skin

Python: Definition, History, and Key Facts

Orin Vale

The python is a large non-venomous snake found across Africa, Asia, and parts of Australia, notable for its immense strength, heat-sensing abilities, and method of subduing prey by constriction. Long woven into folklore, religion, and natural history, the python also plays a significant ecological role, and its diverse species reveal much about both evolution and human perceptions of snakes.