Image: Dr Damien Esquerré, ANU
Image: Dr Damien Esquerré, ANU - Pythons first arrived in Australia from Asia around 23 million years ago and then adapted to their new home by becoming incredibly diverse, according to new research from The Australian National University (ANU). According to lead author Damien Esquerré, it was previously thought pythons may have originated in Australia, and then spread into Asia and Africa. "We've basically been able to map their evolutionary history," Dr Esquerré said. "Our study confirms it's much more likely they came here after crossing 'Wallace's Line' - a boundary that separates Australian and Papuan flora and fauna from the species of Southeast Asia. "This helps us understand how fauna in Australia formed. Some groups have been here since Australia belonged to the supercontinent Gondwana that formed some 550 million years ago. Pythons arrived around 23 million years ago - relatively recently in comparison.
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