User:Elbowz

Here is my attempted analysis of the evolution based around the reptile (Chondropython viridis) most commonly known as the Papuan Tree Python or the Green Tree Snake. Due to the fact that Pythons and Boas like the green tree snake are less evolved snakes then most of their cousins. They rely on a rudimentary method of constricting their pray and swallowing it whole. The Papuan Tree Python is found in Papua New Guinea and belongs to a family Boidae which consists of non-venomous snakes with the females usually being larger then the males. The Papuan Tree Python closest cousin is the Southern-American Emerald Tree Boa which also constricts its prey before eating and on an evolutionary scale these two reptiles are the most closly related. The way to destinguish a Boa from a Python is by Boas having extra bones in their sculls called supraorbital bones and laying eggs rather then producing live young. As a result the Papuan Tree Python and the Emerald Tree Boa are two quite unrelated snakes but regardless they have evolved to look remarkable similar. Like other animals the Papuan Tree Python still retains homogulous structures as does the Emerald Tree Boa such as the pelvic girdle, hind limbs, and the coronoid bone in their lower jaw. Which link them back to some earlier forms of lizards, snakes, crocodiles and other scaled reptiles of the order Squamata. Another reptile which shares the same characteristics as the Papuan Tree Python is the Legless lizard or the family Pygopodidae. They are a perfect example of how convergent evolution has affected two entirely different species and caused them both to accept the same homogulous structures. The behaviour exhibited by the Papuan Tree Python and the Emerald Tree Boa looks almost identical with both snakes usually resting its head on either one or two of its front coils dangling over a branch. This pose also has another feature because at first glance the snake can easily be mistaken for a bunch of unripe bananas. This serves the purpose of protecting the snake from unwanted attention. However how could a colour feature and behavioural patterns be identical over such a vast body of water without the result of convergent evolution.