Photo safari - carpet python

Discover how the carpet python's heat-seeking pits help detect warm-blooded prey at Perth Zoo.

A carpet python, photographed at Perth Zoo. From this angle, you can clearly see the heat-seeking pits on the lower jaw. The python uses these to detect the body heat of its warm-blooded prey.

Ed Yong
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Photo safari - carpet python

Discover how the carpet python's heat-seeking pits help detect warm-blooded prey at Perth Zoo.

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Ed Yong

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The Great Barrier Reef Experiences Largest Annual Decline in Nearly 40 Years

Slingshot Tongues of Chameleons and Salamanders Could Transform Tech in Medicine and Space

At Almost 500 Feet Below the Water, Experts Heard the Sounds of the Elusive Beaked Whale

Sharks Began Roaming the Oceans 400 Million Years Ago as Deep-Sea Bottom-Dwellers

This Adorable Bumpy Snailfish Is One of Three New Species Discovered in the Deep-Sea

Fossils of Extinct Coelacanths Faced a Case of Mistaken Identity for Over a Century

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New Species Identified On Antarctic Seafloor that was Once Covered By a Massive Ice Sheet

Rainbow Shrimp Vision Is the Most Powerful of Any Animal on Earth, But We Don’t Know Why

Are Animals Like Mountain Lions and Bears Leaving Yellowstone National Park?

The Evolution of this Eyeless Fish Helps us Pinpoint When Caves Started to Form

Stay Curious

JoinOur List

SubscribeTo The Magazine