The olive python (Liasis olivaceus) is a species of snake in the family Pythonidae, endemic to Australia. The olive python is often kept as a pet and is bred in captivity. It is technically an advanced-level species due to its size, habitat requirements, and strong feeding response, requiring a terrarium of a minimum of 2.4 metres (8 ft) long, by 1 metre (3 ft) high (from Wikipedia entry). Two subspecies are recognized: L. o. barroni and L. o. olivaceus. This sample is from a female barroni subspecies, in Perth Zoo, Australia, coordinated by Morten E. Allentoft at Curtin University, Perth, and used to generate a high-quality reference genome for the Vertebrate Genomes Project (VGP). Sequencing and genome assembly were conducted at the Vertebrate Genomes Lab (VGL) at the Rockefeller University, led by Olivier Fedrigo and Erich D. Jarvis.
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