Snake pupils! Monty, a three-eyed mutant python, has been discovered in Australia's outback
Park rangers are perplexed after discovering a deformed three-eyed python in the Australian Outback.
The snake, called Monty by rangers, was spotted on the Arnhem Highway in the Northern Territory town of Humpty Doo some weeks ago.
When wildlife scientists picked up the strange-looking snake - a Territory long carpet python - in late March, he was just three months juvenile, 40cm long, and had three working eyes.
Monty's care was difficult for the NT Parks and Wildlife staff because the juvenile snake struggled to feed due to his abnormalities.
The snake perished last week, according to ranger Ray Chatto.
Amazingly it was able to survive in the wild for so long with its disability, and he was battling to feed before he died last week,' Mr Chatto told NT News.
Monty was found and taken for X-rays, which confirmed the source of the extra eye.
It was commonly agreed that the eye evolved relatively early during the embryonic stage of development,' said Mr Chatto.
The snake, called Monty by rangers, was spotted on the Arnhem Highway in the Northern Territory town of Humpty Doo some weeks ago.
When wildlife scientists picked up the strange-looking snake - a Territory long carpet python - in late March, he was just three months juvenile, 40cm long, and had three working eyes.
Monty's care was difficult for the NT Parks and Wildlife staff because the juvenile snake struggled to feed due to his abnormalities.
The snake perished last week, according to ranger Ray Chatto.
Amazingly it was able to survive in the wild for so long with its disability, and he was battling to feed before he died last week,' Mr Chatto told NT News.
Monty was found and taken for X-rays, which confirmed the source of the extra eye.
It was commonly agreed that the eye evolved relatively early during the embryonic stage of development,' said Mr Chatto.
It is quite improbable that this is due to environmental influences, and it is almost probably a natural occurrence because deformed reptiles are fairly common.
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