| first identification of a ranavirus from green pythons (chondropython viridis). | ten juvenile green pythons (chondropython viridis) died or were euthanized shortly after having been illegally imported into australia from indonesia in 1998. histologic examination of two of the three snakes that died revealed moderately severe chronic ulceration of the nasal mucosa and focal or periacinar degeneration and necrosis of the liver. in addition there was severe necrotizing inflammation of the pharyngeal submucosa accompanied by numerous macrophages, heterophils, and edema. an irido ... | 2002 | 12038121 |
| molecular identification of sarcocystis spp. helped to define the origin of green pythons (morelia viridis) confiscated in germany. | sarcocystis spp. represent apicomplexan parasites. they usually have a heteroxenous life cycle. around 200 species have been described, affecting a wide range of animals worldwide, including reptiles. in recent years, large numbers of reptiles have been imported into europe as pets and, as a consequence, animal welfare and species protection issues emerged. a sample of pooled feces from four confiscated green pythons (morelia viridis) containing sarcocystis spp. sporocysts was investigated. thes ... | 2014 | 24476633 |
| strongyloides mirzai infection in a green tree python. | | 1982 | 7174452 |
| detection and prevalence of boid inclusion body disease in collections of boas and pythons using immunological assays. | inclusion body disease (ibd) of boas and pythons is characterized by the intracytoplasmic accumulation of an antigenic 68 kda viral protein ibdp, more recently known as the nucleoprotein (np) of the reptarenaviruses. blood samples of 131 captive boas and pythons (53 boa constrictors, boa constrictor; 35 rainbow boas, epicrates cenchria; 22 ball pythons, python regius; 5 carpet pythons, morelia spilota; 6 burmese pythons, python bivittatus; 4 jamaican boas, epicrates subflavus; 5 anacondas, eunec ... | 2016 | 27938703 |
| facultative thermogenesis during brooding is not the norm among pythons. | facultative thermogenesis is often attributed to pythons in general despite limited comparative data available for the family. while all species within pythonidae brood their eggs, only two species are known to produce heat to enhance embryonic thermal regulation. by contrast, a few python species have been reported to have insignificant thermogenic capabilities. to provide insight into potential phylogenetic, morphological, and ecological factors influencing thermogenic capability among pythons ... | 2015 | 26113382 |
| identification of snake arenaviruses in live boas and pythons in a zoo in germany. | recent studies have described the detection and characterisation of new, snake specific arenaviruses in boas and pythons with inclusion body disease (ibd). the objective of this study was to detect arenaviral rna in live snakes and to determine if these were associated with ibd in all cases. samples for arenavirus detection in live animals were compared. detected viruses were compared in order to understand their genetic variability. | 2015 | 26109078 |
| computed tomography of the lung of healthy snakes of the species python regius, boa constrictor, python reticulatus, morelia viridis, epicrates cenchria, and morelia spilota. | thirty-nine healthy boid snakes representing six different species (python regius, boa constrictor, python reticulatus, morelia viridis, epicrates cenchria, and morelia spilota) were examined using computed tomography (ct) to characterize the normal appearance of the respiratory tissue. assessment was done subjectively and densitometry was performed using a defined protocol. the length of the right lung was calculated to be 11.1% of the body length, without a significant difference between speci ... | 2016 | 19788032 |
| scratch resistance of the ventral skin surface in four snake species (squamata, serpentes). | snakes are limbless tetrapods highly specialized for sliding locomotion on various substrates. their skin is constantly exposed to high friction forces, which promotes abrasion. snake skin has material and surface specializations, presumably optimized for friction and abrasion resistance. we found that different snake species living in different habitats have different abrasion patterns and hypothesized that this correlates with specific epidermal architecture and surface topography. to test thi ... | 2016 | 26874374 |
| ultrastructure and wear patterns of the ventral epidermis of four snake species (squamata, serpentes). | snakes are limbless tetrapods highly specialized for sliding locomotion. this locomotion leads to the skin being exposed to friction loads, especially on the ventral body side, which leads to wear. it is presumed that snakes therefore have specific optimizations for minimizing abrasion. scales from snakes with habitat, locomotor and/or behavior specializations have specific gradients in material properties that may be due to different epidermal architecture. to approach this issue we examined th ... | 2014 | 25169958 |
| epidermis architecture and material properties of the skin of four snake species. | on the basis of structural and experimental data, it was previously demonstrated that the snake integument consists of a hard, robust, inflexible outer surface (oberhäutchen and β-layer) and softer, flexible inner layers (α-layers). it is not clear whether this phenomenon is a general adaptation of snakes to limbless locomotion or only to specific conditions, such as habitat and locomotion. the aim of the present study was to compare the structure and material properties of the outer scale layer ... | 2012 | 22896567 |
| fatal purpureocillium lilacinum pneumonia in a green tree python. | a 10-y-old female green tree python ( morelia viridis) died of fungal pneumonia caused by purpureocillium lilacinum, which was confirmed histologically and by pcr and subsequent dna sequencing. the same fungal species was cultivated from a swab taken from the terrarium in which the snake was housed. clinical and environmental p. lilacinum isolates were indistinguishable by the typing method applied, strongly suggesting clonal relatedness of both isolates. because no other underlying predisposing ... | 2018 | 29271312 |
| nidovirus-associated proliferative pneumonia in the green tree python (morelia viridis). | in 2014 we observed a noticeable increase in sudden deaths of green tree pythons (morelia viridis). pathological examination revealed accumulation of mucoid material within airways and lung, associated with enlargement of the entire lung. we performed full necropsy and histological examination on 12 affected green tree pythons from 7 different breeders to characterise the pathogenesis of this "mucinous" pneumonia. by histology we could show a marked hyperplasia of the airway epithelium and of fa ... | 2017 | 28794044 |
| measuring agreement and discord among hemagglutination inhibition assays against different ophidian paramyxovirus strains in the eastern massasauga (sistrurus catenatus catenatus). | at present, the hemagglutination inhibition (hi) assay is the sole commercially available serologic method available to detect exposure to ophidian paramyxovirus (opmv) in snakes. during 2006, 26 eastern massasaugas (sistrurus catenatus catenatus) were collected, and blood was sampled to determine their opmv status. samples from each snake were divided into 3 aliquots and tested by using commercially available hi assays against the 4 opmv isolates used in the 3 laboratories that offer the servic ... | 2008 | 18816997 |
| the adaptive significance of ontogenetic colour change in a tropical python. | ontogenetic colour change is typically associated with changes in size, vulnerability or habitat, but assessment of its functional significance requires quantification of the colour signals from the receivers' perspective. the tropical python, morelia viridis, is an ideal species to establish the functional significance of ontogenetic colour change. neonates hatch either yellow or red and both the morphs change to green with age. here, we show that colour change from red or yellow to green provi ... | 2007 | 17443961 |
| phylogeographic analysis of the green python, morelia viridis, reveals cryptic diversity. | green pythons, which are regionally variable in colour patterns, are found throughout the lowland rainforest of new guinea and adjacent far northeastern australia. the species is popular in commercial trade and management of this trade and its impacts on natural populations could be assisted by molecular identification tools. we used mitochondrial nucleotide sequences and a limited allozyme data to test whether significantly differentiated populations occur within the species range. phylogenetic ... | 2003 | 12679069 |
| investigations into the presence of nidoviruses in pythons. | pneumonia and stomatitis represent severe and often fatal diseases in different captive snakes. apart from bacterial infections, paramyxo-, adeno-, reo- and arenaviruses cause these diseases. in 2014, new viruses emerged as the cause of pneumonia in pythons. in a few publications, nidoviruses have been reported in association with pneumonia in ball pythons and a tiger python. the viruses were found using new sequencing methods from the organ tissue of dead animals. | 2020 | 31952524 |
| revision of acanthotaenia von linstow, 1903 (cestoda: proteocephalidae), parasites of monitors (varanus spp.), based on morphological and molecular data. | a morphological and molecular phylogenetic study of proteocephalid tapeworms of the genus acanthotaenia von linstow, 1903, parasites of monitors (varanidae), was carried out. the type species, a. shipleyi von linstow, 1903, which was originally described based on an immature specimen from sri lanka, is redescribed based on new material from the type host, varanus salvator, in sri lanka, malaysia, and vietnam, and its neotype is designated. in addition, acanthotaenia susanae n. sp. is described f ... | 2019 | 31065829 |
| investigation of the tracheal mucociliary clearance in snakes with and without boid inclusion body disease and lung pathology. | pneumonia is a common complication of boid inclusion body disease (bibd) in snakes. the tracheal mucociliary apparatus of eight boas ( boa constrictor) and two pythons ( python regius, morelia viridis) was examined to assess whether absent or reduced mucociliary clearance could be a predisposing factor. nine of the examined snakes were positive for bibd by detection of inclusion bodies and three had lung pathologies other than the formation of inclusion bodies. a considerable individual variatio ... | 2018 | 29517427 |
| serpentoviruses: more than respiratory pathogens. | in recent years, nidoviruses have emerged as important respiratory pathogens of reptiles, affecting captive python populations. in pythons, nidovirus (recently reclassified as serpentovirus) infection induces an inflammation of the upper respiratory and alimentary tract which can develop into a severe, often fatal proliferative pneumonia. we observed pyogranulomatous and fibrinonecrotic lesions in organ systems other than the respiratory tract during full postmortem examinations on 30 serpentovi ... | 2020 | 32641481 |
| meningeal granular cell tumour in a green tree python (morelia viridis). | granular cell tumours (gcts) are uncommon neoplasms mostly reported in man, dogs and horses. the origin of gct is thought to be schwann cells, with the associated characteristics of neural crest morphology. neoplastic cells often demonstrate positive immunoreactivity for s100, lc3, vimentin and p62. they are also periodic acid-schiff (pas) positive and diastase resistant. a female green tree python (morelia viridis) was presented for severe constipation and hyporexia of 4 month's duration and, d ... | 2020 | 31955803 |
| species delimitation and systematics of the green pythons (morelia viridis complex) of melanesia and australia. | molecular data sets and the increasing use of integrative systematics is revealing cryptic diversity in a range of taxa - particularly in remote and poorly sampled landscapes like the island of new guinea. green pythons (morelia viridis complex) are one of the most conspicuous elements of this island's fauna, with large numbers taken from the wild to supply international demand for exotic pets. we test hypotheses about species boundaries in green pythons from across new guinea and australia with ... | 2020 | 31605811 |