• Aspidites Peters, W. 1876. Berichtigung zu s. 533; Aspidiotus/Aspidites. Monatsberichte der Königlichen Preussischen Akademie der Wissenschaften zu Berlin 1876: 914 [914] [nom. nov. for Aspidiotes [sic] Krefft, 1864].
• Aspidiotes Krefft, G. 1864. Description of Aspidiotes melanocephalus, a new snake from Port Denison, N.E. Australia. Proceedings of the Zoological Society of London 1864: 20-22 [20] [junior homonym of Aspidiotes Bouché, 1844 and Aspidiotes Schoenherr, 1847].

  Type species:

   Aspidiotes melanocephalus Krefft, 1864 by monotypy.
• Aspidiotus Peters, W. 1876. Berichtigung zu s. 533; Aspidiotus/Aspidites. Monatsberichte der Königlichen Preussischen Akademie der Wissenschaften zu Berlin 1876: 914 [914] [lapsus for Aspidiotes Krefft, 1864; junior homonym of Aspidiotus Bouché, 1833].

Taxonomic Decision for Synonymy

• Cogger, H.G., in Cogger, H.G., Cameron, E.E. & Cogger, H.M. 1983. Amphibia and Reptilia. 313 pp. in Walton, D.W. (ed.). Zoological Catalogue of Australia. Canberra : Australian Government Publishing Service Vol. 1 vi + 313 pp. [202]

Distribution

States

New South Wales, Northern Territory, Queensland, South Australia, Western Australia

IBRA

NSW, NT, Qld, SA, WA: Burt Plain (BRT), Channel Country (CHC), Central Ranges (CR), Davenport Murchison Ranges (DMR), Finke (FIN), Gibson Desert (GD), Geraldton Sandplains (GS), Great Sandy Desert (GSD), MacDonnell Ranges (MAC), Mitchell Grass Downs (MGD), Mulga Lands (ML), Murchison (MUR), Simpson Strzelecki Dunefields (SSD), Stony Plains (STP), Tanami (TAN), Yalgoo (YAL) ; NT, Qld, WA: Arnhem Coast (ARC), Arnhem Plateau (ARP), Brigalow Belt North (BBN), Central Arnhem (CA), Central Kimberley (CK), Central Mackay Coast (CMC), Cape York Peninsula (CYP), Daly Basin (DAB), Darwin Coastal (DAC), Desert Uplands (DEU), Dampierland (DL), Einasleigh Uplands (EIU), Gulf Fall and Uplands (GFU), Gulf Coastal (GUC), Gulf Plains (GUP), Mount Isa Inlier (MII), Northern Kimberley (NK), Ord Victoria Plain (OVP), Pine Creek (PCK), Pilbara (PIL), Sturt Plateau (STU), Tiwi Cobourg (TIW), Victoria Bonaparte (VB), Wet Tropics (WT)

History of changes

• Aspidiotes melanocephalus Krefft, G. 1864. Description of Aspidiotes melanocephalus, a new snake from Port Denison, N.E. Australia. Proceedings of the Zoological Society of London 1864: 20-22 [20].

  Type data:

   Holotype BMNH 1946.1.8.2, Bowen (as Port Denison), QLD.
• Aspidites melanocephalus adelynensis Hoser, R. 2000. A revision of the Australasian pythons. Ophidia Review 1: 7-27 [9].

  Type data:

   Holotype WAM 51208, Wyndham, WA [15°28S 128°07'E].
• Aspidites melanocephalus davieii Hoser, R. 2000. A revision of the Australasian pythons. Ophidia Review 1: 7-27 [9].

  Type data:

   Holotype WAM 46170, Tom Price, WA [22°39'S 117°40'E].

Taxonomic Decision for Synonymy

• Schleip, W.D. & O'Shea, M. 2010. Annotated checklist of the recent and extinct pythons (Serpentes, Pythonidae), with notes on nomenclature, taxonomy, and distribution. ZooKeys 66(29-79)

Generic Combinations

• Aspidites melanocephalus (Krefft, 1864).

Distribution

States

Northern Territory, Queensland, Western Australia

Extra Distribution Information

Australian Endemic.

IBRA

NT, Qld, WA: Arnhem Coast (ARC), Arnhem Plateau (ARP), Brigalow Belt North (BBN), Central Arnhem (CA), Central Kimberley (CK), Central Mackay Coast (CMC), Cape York Peninsula (CYP), Daly Basin (DAB), Darwin Coastal (DAC), Desert Uplands (DEU), Dampierland (DL), Einasleigh Uplands (EIU), Gulf Fall and Uplands (GFU), Gulf Coastal (GUC), Gulf Plains (GUP), Mitchell Grass Downs (MGD), Mount Isa Inlier (MII), Northern Kimberley (NK), Ord Victoria Plain (OVP), Pine Creek (PCK), Pilbara (PIL), Sturt Plateau (STU), Tiwi Cobourg (TIW), Victoria Bonaparte (VB), Wet Tropics (WT)

Ecological Descriptors

Closed forest, nocturnal, open forest, oviparous, predator, tall shrubland, terrestrial, woodland.

Extra Ecological Information

Lacertiphagous, ophiophagous, constrictor.

General References

Smith, L.A. 1981. A revision of the python genera Aspidites and Python (Serpentes: Boidae) in Western Australia. Records of the Western Australian Museum 9: 211-226 (taxonomy)

Stull, O.G. 1935. A checklist of the family Boidae. Proceedings of the Boston Society of Natural History 40: 387-408 (taxonomy)

Common Name References

CAVS 2006. Census of Australian Vertebrate Species. Australian Biological Resources Study. (Black-headed Python)

History of changes

• Aspidiotes ramsayi Macleay, W. 1882. Description of two new species of snakes. Proceedings of the Linnean Society of New South Wales 6: 811-813 [813].

  Type data:

   Holotype MMUS (presumed lost; type loc. not "near Fort Bourke" as in the original description), Tyndayrey (= Tindarie, ca. 117 km south of Bourke), NSW.

  Type locality references:

  Shea, G.M. 2012. The life and herpetological collections of James Ramsay, with correction of the type localities of two rare snakes from New South Wales. Australian Zoologist 36(2): 145–152.
• Aspidites collaris Longman, H.A. 1913. Herpetological notes. 1. Systematic. Including the description of one new species. Part 11. Ethological. Memoirs of the Queensland Museum 2: 39-45 [40].

  Type data:

   Holotype QM J944, Avondale Station, via Cunnamulla, QLD.
• Aspidites ramsayi panoptes Hoser, R. 2000. A revision of the Australasian pythons. Ophidia Review 1: 7-27 [10].

  Type data:

   Holotype WAM 43459, Burracoppin, WA [31°24'S 118°29'E].
• Aspidites ramsayi richardjonesii Hoser, R. 2000. A revision of the Australasian pythons. Ophidia Review 1: 7-27 [11].

  Type data:

   Holotype WAM 34070, Port Hedland, WA [20°19'S 118°34'E].

Taxonomic Decision for Synonymy

• Cogger, H.G., in Cogger, H.G., Cameron, E.E. & Cogger, H.M. 1983. Amphibia and Reptilia. 313 pp. in Walton, D.W. (ed.). Zoological Catalogue of Australia. Canberra : Australian Government Publishing Service Vol. 1 vi + 313 pp. [202]
• Schleip, W.D. & O'Shea, M. 2010. Annotated checklist of the recent and extinct pythons (Serpentes, Pythonidae), with notes on nomenclature, taxonomy, and distribution. ZooKeys 66(29-79)

Generic Combinations

• Aspidites ramsayi (Macleay, 1882).

Distribution

States

New South Wales, Northern Territory, Queensland, South Australia, Western Australia

Extra Distribution Information

Australian Endemic.

IBRA

NSW, NT, Qld, SA, WA: Burt Plain (BRT), Channel Country (CHC), Central Ranges (CR), Davenport Murchison Ranges (DMR), Finke (FIN), Gibson Desert (GD), Geraldton Sandplains (GS), Great Sandy Desert (GSD), MacDonnell Ranges (MAC), Mitchell Grass Downs (MGD), Mulga Lands (ML), Murchison (MUR), Simpson Strzelecki Dunefields (SSD), Stony Plains (STP), Tanami (TAN), Yalgoo (YAL)

Ecological Descriptors

Desert, nocturnal, oviparous, predator, tall shrubland, terrestrial.

Extra Ecological Information

Lacertiphagous, ophiophagous, constrictor.

General References

Fyfe, G. & Harvey, C. 1981. Some observations on the woma (Aspidites ramsayi) in captivity. Herpetofauna 18: 23-25 (natural history)

Smith, L.A. 1981. A revision of the python genera Aspidites and Python (Serpentes: Boidae) in Western Australia. Records of the Western Australian Museum 9: 211-226 (taxonomy)

Waite, E.R. 1894. Redescription of Aspidites ramsayi Macleay. Proceedings of the Linnean Society of New South Wales 2 9: 715-717 (taxonomy)

Common Name References

CAVS 2006. Census of Australian Vertebrate Species. Australian Biological Resources Study. (Woma)

History of changes