{{Short description|Species of python}} {{Speciesbox | image = GAB05164 gr copy.jpg | status = LC | status_system = IUCN3.1 | status_ref = <ref name="iucn status 18 November 2021">{{cite iucn |author=Tallowin, O. |author2=Allison, A. |date=2013 |title=''Bothrochilus boa'' |volume=2013 |article-number=e.T196558A2459522 |doi=10.2305/IUCN.UK.2013-1.RLTS.T196558A2459522.en |access-date=18 November 2021}}</ref> | genus = Bothrochilus | parent_authority = Fitzinger, 1843 | species = boa | authority = (Schlegel, 1837) | synonyms = * ''Tortrix boa'' <small>Schlegel, 1837</small> * ''Nardoa Schlegelii'' <small>Gray, 1842</small> * ''Bothrochilus Boa'' <small>Fitzinger, 1843</small> * ''Nardoa boa'' <small>Müller, 1882</small> * ''Nardoa boa'' <small>Boulenger, 1893</small> * ''Nardoana boa'' <small>Berg, 1901</small> * ''Nardoa boa'' <small>De Jong, 1930</small> * ''Bothrochilus boa'' <small>Loveridge, 1946</small> * ''Liasis boa'' <small>McDowell, 1975</small> * ''Morelia boa'' <small>Underwood & Stimson, 1993</small> * ''B''[''othrochilus'']. ''boa'' <small>Kluge, 1993</small> | synonyms_ref = <ref name="McD99">McDiarmid RW, Campbell JA, Touré T. 1999. Snake Species of the World: A Taxonomic and Geographic Reference, vol. 1. Herpetologists' League. 511 pp. {{ISBN|1-893777-00-6}} (series). {{ISBN|1-893777-01-4}} (volume).</ref> }}
The '''Bismarck ringed python''' ('''''Bothrochilus boa''''') is a species of snake in the genus ''Bothrochilus''<ref name="Meh87">Mehrtens JM. 1987. Living Snakes of the World in Color. New York: Sterling Publishers. 480 pp. {{ISBN|0-8069-6460-X}}.</ref> found on the islands of the Bismarck Archipelago. No subspecies are recognized.<ref name="ITIS">{{ITIS |id=209583 |taxon=''Bothrochilus'' |accessdate=9 September 2007}}</ref>
==Description== Adults grow to a length of {{convert|152|-|183|cm|ft|abbr=on}}. The color pattern consists of a series of brilliant orange and black rings in juveniles, but this fades in about a year as the snakes mature. Adults are usually a shade of brown with black rings, or a uniform blackish brown. Usually, there is a light spot behind the eye.<ref name="Meh87"/> Some specimens may have black rings that are irregular, incompletely formed or even absent. The scales are highly iridescent.
thumb|Close up of an adult Bismarck Ringed Python.
thumb|Young BRP with its characteristic bright orange and jet-black coloration.
==Distribution and habitat== Found on the islands of the Bismarck Archipelago, including Umboi, New Britain, Gasmata (off the southern coast), Duke of York and nearby Mioko, New Ireland and nearby Tatau (off the east coast), the New Hanover Islands and Nissan Island, the type locality given is "Nouvelle Irlande" (New Ireland).<ref name="McD99"/> The Bismarck ringed python inhabits rain forests in open and/or cultivated areas,<ref name="Meh87"/> and is often found in piles of coconut husks.
==Behavior== These snakes are nocturnal and fossorial.<ref name="Meh87"/>
==Feeding== Their diet consists primarily of small rodents, for which they actively forage. They have been reported to enter houses and agricultural structures in search of prey. Hatchlings feed on lizards and juvenile rodents.<ref name="Meh87"/>
==Reproduction== Oviparous, they lay up to a dozen eggs that are generally "brooded" by the female, although this is not always the case.<ref name="Meh87"/>
==References== {{Reflist}}
==External links== {{Wikispecies|Bothrochilus boa}} {{Commons|Bothrochilus boa}} * {{NRDB species|genus=Bothrochilus|species=boa|date=9 September|year=2007}}
{{Pythonidae}} {{Taxonbar|from=Q595156}}
Category:Pythonidae Category:Reptiles of Papua New Guinea Category:Snakes of Asia Category:Taxa named by Leopold Fitzinger Category:Reptiles described in 1837