Coastal Carpet Python
Morelia spilota mcdowelli • Order: Squamata, Suborder: Serpentes, Family: Pythonidae, Subfamily: Pythoninae, Genus: Morelia, Species: Morelia spilota
Endemic to Australia, specifically found along the eastern coast and adjacent ranges from Cape York in Queensland down through New South Wales and into eastern Victoria.
Look up Coastal Carpet Python in the Snake Encyclopedia →Family
Order: Squamata, Suborder: Serpentes, Family: Pythonidae, Subfamily: Pythoninae, Genus: Morelia, Species: Morelia spilota
Conservation
IUCN Red List status is Least Concern. Populations are generally stable, though individuals frequently face mortality from vehicular strikes when crossing roads, especially at night or during warmer months.
Physical Description
Elongated body featuring a dark pattern of irregular blotches, bands, and stripes over a lighter background of olive, brown, or gold. The head is distinctively wider than the neck with vertical pupils and smooth scales.
Size & Dimensions
Estimated length of this specimen is approximately 2 meters; typical adults range from 2 to 3 meters, with exceptional individuals reaching up to 4 meters in length.
Habitat
Extremely adaptable, inhabiting a wide range of environments from rainforests and wet sclerophyll forests to open woodlands, rocky outcrops, coastal heathlands, and suburban areas.
Diet & Feeding
Carnivorous diet consisting of small mammals, birds, and reptiles. They are ambush predators that rely on constriction to subdue their prey before swallowing it whole.
Reproduction
Oviparous species that typically lays a clutch of 10 to 50 eggs. Females exhibit maternal care by coiling around the eggs to incubate them and protect them from predators until hatching.
Look-alikes
Can be confused with other python species or large colubrids within its range, but is distinguished by its specific blotched dorsal pattern, triangular head shape, and general scale structure.
Conservation Status
IUCN Red List status is Least Concern. Populations are generally stable, though individuals frequently face mortality from vehicular strikes when crossing roads, especially at night or during warmer months.
Cultural Significance
Holds significant cultural value in Australian Indigenous dreamtime stories and art. Ecologically, they play an important role in controlling rodent and pest populations.
Notable Features
Possesses heat-sensing pits along the upper and lower jaws used to detect endothermic prey in complete darkness, an evolutionary adaptation shared by pythons, boas, and some vipers.