sentences:  The Old Tupi name for such snakes was "mbói", which figures in the etymology of names such as "jibóia" and "boitatá" (the Brazilian name for the mythical giant anaconda).Most species are found in North, Central, and South America, as well as the Caribbean, while a few are found in southeastern Europe and Asia Minor, Northern, Central and East Africa, Madagascar, the Arabian Peninsula, Central and southwestern Asia, India and Sri Lanka, the Moluccas, and New Guinea through to Melanesia and Samoa.Prey is killed by constriction; after an animal has been grasped to restrain it, a number of coils are hastily wrapped around it.