Python is a genus consisting of almost 10 types of snakes in the household Pythonidae, dispersed throughout the tropical and subtropical areas of the eastern hemisphere.

In Africa, pythons are belonging to tropical areas south of the Sahara however are missing from the severe southwestern suggestion of southern Africa and from Madagascar.

In Asia, they take place from Bangladesh, Nepal, India, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka through Myanmar and eastward to Indochina, southern China, Hong Kong, and Hainan, in addition to throughout the Malayan area of Indonesia and the Philippines.

“No living members of the genus Python occupy the primary island of Taiwan,” stated Yi-Lu Liaw and coworkers from the National Taiwan University.

In their brand-new research study, the paleontologists analyzed a big single trunk vertebra recuperated near Tainan City, Taiwan.

The specimen dates to the Middle Pleistocene, in between about 800,000 and 400,000 years earlier.

The scientists recognized the specimen as coming from the genus Pythonmaking it the very first verified fossil proof of a python on Taiwan’s primary island.

Utilizing measurements from a rebuilt 3D design of the specimen, they approximated that the ancient snake reached an overall length of about 4 m– going beyond the size of any modern-day Taiwanese snake types.

More than 50 snake types survive on the island, however none approach the size recommended by the fossil.

“This fossil represents the biggest and most unforeseen fossil snake from Taiwan,” they stated.

The vertebra was recuperated from the Chiting Formation, a fossil-rich geological system in southern Taiwan that has actually likewise yielded remains of saber-toothed felines, big crocodilians and megaherbivores such as mammoths and extinct rhinoceroses.

Together, these discovers indicate a complex and predator-rich environment throughout the Middle Pleistocene, dramatically contrasting with Taiwan’s contemporary animals.

“The disappeared leading predator, as revealed by this big Python or formerly released sabre-toothed feline and big crocodile, in the modern-day biodiversity of Taiwan, shows an extreme faunal turnover,” the researchers concluded.

“We propose that the specific niche of leading predators in the modern-day environment might have been uninhabited because the Pleistocene termination.”

“Future discovery and extensive analysis ought to evaluate the hypotheses and light up the origin of contemporary biodiversity in the Far East.”

The discovery is explained in a paper in the journal Historic Biology

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Yi-Lu Liaw et alAn unanticipated snake fossil (Pythonidae, Pythonfrom Taiwan. Historic Biologyreleased online January 16, 2026; doi: 10.1080/ 08912963.2025.2610741