Anacondas - The Life Cycle of an Anaconda
Anaconda
The anaconda is one of the popular amphibians in America. They are live in swamps or slow rivers. They are known to inhabit flooded places in the jungle. The snake is large in size for human eye to imagine. The anaconda has a measurement of about twenty feet in length. It has a weight of around 560 pounds. Its diameter is over 12 inches.
 
You can imagine how big the snake looks like. It is termed as the largest of all snakes that are found on earth today.  Its scientific name “eunectesmurinus” is attached to the Greek language which means a great swimmer. Throughout the world anacondas are known in different names. The names vary from one area to another.
 
The anacondas’ life begins when a male and a female anaconda mate. Mating usually occurs in the muddy areas where the anaconda lives. The mating can take several hours as the amphibians slither on the muddy grounds. The eggs from a female anaconda are fertilized and thus the female one conceives. Anacondas usually give birth.
 
They are forms of reptiles and can give around 20 to 50 young ones. Some are known to give up to 100 neonates. The small ones can measure up to 23 inches. The young ones are free and able to start life on their own after only one hour from birth. The small anaconda can start catching their prey the second hour after their birth. They start by feeding on small prey as they grow larger in size. The large anaconda is experienced enough to catch huge preys compared to the small ones. The small preys include; rats and birds. Anacondas can live between 10 years to 29 years.
 
As the anaconda grows it develops organs for sensing heat from their surroundings. These organs are known to work even well in dark places.  Jacobson’s organ is another organ that is present in the anaconda. It is found on the top of its mouth. The organ aids the anacondas tongue more especially when detecting chemical clues in its surrounding.
 
The tongue collects the chemicals with the aid of smelling organs. The anaconda is known to hold breath for over 16 minutes.
In addition, it is known that the anaconda can open their jaws to reach 180 degrees. This tells of how they can easily swallow their prey. Their jaws are wide open to match the size of its prey. An adult anaconda will have more than 100 teeth to aid in biting the prey. The teeth start growing with a curved shape as the snake grows.  
 
The teeth are known to help in holding the prey. The anaconda has no venom and most cases it kills its prey by drowning or through a tight grip that makes the prey stop breathing. This is the way through which it gets its prey. Anacondas have a way of keeping off small predators off its surface. This is through the release of a pungent musk from its anal thus keeping away great number of small types of organisms that come near its surface.


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