BETA
Chapter 1
The accidental invaders
Chapter 2
A food web in freefall
Chapter 3
The python hunters
Chapter 4
Global lessons in invasion biology
YOUR GOAL
Master of Pythons in the Everglades
Ch 2 · A food web in freefall
marcus Topple invasive python towers to learn how they disrupt the native Everglades food web.
marcus Pythons threaten the Everglades' famous avian biodiversity by consuming both adult birds and their eggs.
marcus Alligators and pythons now compete for dominance in an unprecedented battle of swamp giants.
Fun Fact
Python jaw flexibility: Pythons don't actually dislocate their jaws; they have flexible ligaments that stretch to let them swallow prey wider than themselves.
Glossary
food web (noun)
A system of interlocking and interdependent food chains in an ecological community. In Florida, invasive Burmese pythons disrupted this system, decimating ninety-nine percent of Everglades raccoons by 2012.
A system of interlocking and interdependent food chains in an ecological community. In Florida, invasive Burmese pythons disrupted this system, decimating ninety-nine percent of Everglades raccoons by 2012.
Quiz
By what percentage did opossum populations decline in the southern Everglades following the python invasion?
Quiz
What type of hunting strategy do Burmese pythons use to capture native Everglades wildlife?
Quiz
What is the main reason native Everglades mammals are so vulnerable to Burmese python predation?
Quiz
How many different bird species have researchers documented inside the stomachs of Everglades pythons?
Quiz
Which native Everglades apex predator frequently battles the invasive Burmese python for dominance?
Quiz
Why has the decline of raccoons and opossums caused by pythons led to more mosquito-borne diseases in Florida?
Quiz
According to a 2012 study, by what percentage did the raccoon population drop in the southern Everglades due to pythons?