How does polymorphism work in Python?

The is operator in Python checks that the two arguments refer to the same object in memory; it is not like the is operator in C#.

From the docs:

The operators is and is not test for object identity: x is y is true if and only if x and y are the same object. x is not y yields the inverse truth value.

What you're looking for in this case is isinstance.

Return true if the object argument is an instance of the classinfo argument, or of a (direct or indirect) subclass thereof.

>>> class animal(object): pass

>>> class dog(animal): pass

>>> myDog = dog()
>>> isinstance(myDog, dog)
True
>>> isinstance(myDog, animal)
True

However, idiomatic Python dictates that you (almost) never do type-checking, but instead rely on duck-typing for polymorphic behavior. There's nothing wrong with using isinstance to understand inheritance, but it should generally be avoided in "production" code.

phimuemue and Mark have answered your question. But this is ALSO an example of polymorphism in Python, but it's not as explicit as your inheritance based example.

class wolf(object): 
    def bark(self):
        print "hooooowll"

class dog(object): 
    def bark(self):
        print "woof"


def barkforme(dogtype):
    dogtype.bark()


my_dog = dog()
my_wolf = wolf()
barkforme(my_dog)
barkforme(my_wolf)