General References

Barker, D.G., Barker, T.M., Davis, M.A. & Schuett, G.W. 2015. A review of the systematics and taxonomy of Pythonidae: an ancient serpent lineage. Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society 175: 1–19

Cogger, H.G., Cameron, E.E. & Cogger, H.M. 1983. Amphibia and Reptilia. In, Walton, D.W. (ed.). Zoological Catalogue of Australia. Canberra : Australian Government Publishing Service Vol. 1 vi + 313 pp. [200-201]

Kluge, A.G. 1993. Aspidites and the phylogeny of pythonine snakes. Australian Museum Records Supplement 19: 1-77

McDiarmid, R.W., Campbell, J.A. & Touré,T.A. 1999. Snake species of the world. A taxonomic and geographic reference. Vol. 1. Washington D.C. : Herpetologists’ League pp. 511.

McDowell, S.B. 1975. A catalogue of the snakes of New Guinea and the Solomons, with special reference to those in the Bernice P. Bishop Museum. Part II. Anilioidea and Pythoninae. Journal of Herpetology 9: 1-79 [30]

Rawlings, L.H., Rabosky, D.L., Donellan, S.C. & Hutchinson, M.N. 2008. Python phylogenetics: inference from morphology and mitochondrial DNA. Biological Journal of the Linnean Society of London 93: 603-619

Reynolds, R.G., Niemiller, M.L. & Revell, L.J. 2014. Toward a Tree-of-Life for the boas and pythons: Multilocus species-level phylogeny with unprecedented taxon sampling. Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 71: 201–213

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)

Underwood, G. & Stimson, A.F. 1990. A classification of the pythons (Serpentes, Pythoninae). Journal of Zoology, London 221(4): 565–603

History of changes

• Antaresia Wells, R.W. & Wellington, C.R. 1984. A synopsis of the class Reptilia in Australia. Australian Journal of Herpetology 1(3-4): 73-129 [1983 on title page] [105].

  Type species:

   Nardoa gilberti Gray, 1842 (= Antaresia childreni (Gray, 1842)) by original designation.

Introduction

Esquerré et al. (2021) reviewed the genus using an integrative approach. They found no species level differences between Antaresia childreni and A. stimsoni, placing the latter as a junior synomym of A. childreni. Conversely, their analysis highlighted considerable genetic structuring within A. maculosa leading them to recognise two subspecies in northeastern Australia, A. m. maculosa in eastern Australia and A. m. pensinsularis from the Cape York region, and a new species Antaresia papuensis in Torres Strait and New Guinea.

Distribution

States

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

IBRA

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

Other Regions

Torres Strait Islands terrestrial, marine & freshwater

General References

Esquerré, D., Donnellan, S.C., Pavón-Vázquez, C.J., Fenker, J. & Keogh, J.S. 2021. Phylogeography, historical demography and systematics of the world’s smallest pythons (Pythonidae, Antaresia). Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 161(107181): 1-19

Kluge, A.G. 1993. Aspidites and the phylogeny of pythonine snakes. Australian Museum Records Supplement 19: 1-77

History of changes

• Liasis childreni Gray, J.E. 1842. Synopsis of the species of prehensile-tailed snakes, or family Boidae. pp. 41-46 in Gray, J.E. (ed.). The Zoological Miscellany. London : Treuttel, Würz & Co. [44].

  Type data:

   Holotype BMNH 1946.1.16.78, locality unknown.
• Nardoa gilbertii Gray, J.E. 1842. Synopsis of the species of prehensile-tailed snakes, or family Boidae. pp. 41-46 in Gray, J.E. (ed.). The Zoological Miscellany. London : Treuttel, Würz & Co. [45].

  Type data:

   Holotype BMNH 1946.1.16.69, Port Essington, NT.
• Liasis stimsoni orientalis Smith, L.A. 1985. A revision of the Liasis childreni species-group (Serpentes: Boidae). Records of the Western Australian Museum 12(3): 257-276 [267].

  Type data:

   Holotype WAM R46846 ♀, Winduldarra Rockhole, WA [26°31'S 126°01'E].
• Liasis stimsoni stimsoni Smith, L.A. 1985. A revision of the Liasis childreni species-group (Serpentes: Boidae). Records of the Western Australian Museum 12(3): 257-276 [267].

  Type data:

   Holotype WAM R46846 ♀, Nullagine WA [21°58'S 120°12'E].
• Antaresia saxacola campbelli Hoser, R. 2000. A revision of the Australasian pythons. Ophidia Review 1: 7-27 [13].

  Type data:

   Holotype AM R69087, Wilcannia` NSW [31°34'S 143°23'E].
• Antaresia saxacola Wells, R.W. & Wellington, C.R. 1985. A classification of the Amphibia and Reptilia of Australia. Australian Journal of Herpetology Supplementary Series 1: 1-61 [Date published September, 1985] [41] [nomen nudum].

  Type data:

   Holotype AM R60304, 6 km N Barrow Creek (on Stuart Highway), NT [21°04'S 134°10'E].

  Secondary source:

   Underwood, G. & Stimson, A.F. 1990. A classification of the pythons (Serpentes, Pythoninae). Journal of Zoology, London 221(4): 565–603 [603]; Kluge, A.G. 1993. Aspidites and the phylogeny of pythonine snakes. Australian Museum Records Supplement 19: 1-77 [8]; Shea, G.M. & Sadlier, R.A. 1999. A catalogue of the non-fossil amphibian and reptile type specimens in the collection of the Australian Museum: types currently, previously and purportedly present. Technical Reports of the Australian Museum 15: 1-91 [64].

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. [203]
• McDiarmid, R.W., Campbell, J.A. & Touré,T.A. 1999. Snake species of the world. A taxonomic and geographic reference. Vol. 1. Washington D.C. : Herpetologists’ League pp. 511. [162]
• Esquerré, D., Donnellan, S.C., Pavón-Vázquez, C.J., Fenker, J. & Keogh, J.S. 2021. Phylogeography, historical demography and systematics of the world’s smallest pythons (Pythonidae, Antaresia). Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 161(107181): 1-19 [11]

Generic Combinations

• Bothrochilus childreni (Gray, 1842).
• Antaresia childreni (Gray, 1842).
• Antaresia stimsoni orientalis (Smith, 1985).
• Antaresia stimsoni stimsoni (Smith, 1985).

Distribution

States

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

Extra Distribution Information

From WA coast throughout western and central Australia, north to coastal NT and east through semi-arid QLD and NSW to west of the Great Dividing Range, not recorded in the southeast or along the southern coastline

Australian Endemic.

IBRA

NSW, NT, Qld, SA, WA: Arnhem Coast (ARC), Arnhem Plateau (ARP), Broken Hill Complex (BHC), Burt Plain (BRT), Central Arnhem (CA), Carnarvon (CAR), Channel Country (CHC), Central Kimberley (CK), Central Ranges (CR), Daly Basin (DAB), Darwin Coastal (DAC), Dampierland (DL), Davenport Murchison Ranges (DMR), Finke (FIN), Gascoyne (GAS), Gibson Desert (GD), Gulf Fall and Uplands (GFU), Geraldton Sandplains (GS), Great Sandy Desert (GSD), Gulf Coastal (GUC), Gulf Plains (GUP), Great Victoria Desert (GVD), Little Sandy Desert (LSD), MacDonnell Ranges (MAC), Mitchell Grass Downs (MGD), Mount Isa Inlier (MII), Mulga Lands (ML), Murchison (MUR), Northern Kimberley (NK), Ord Victoria Plain (OVP), Pine Creek (PCK), Pilbara (PIL), Simpson Strzelecki Dunefields (SSD), Stony Plains (STP), Sturt Plateau (STU), Tanami (TAN), Tiwi Cobourg (TIW), Victoria Bonaparte (VB), Yalgoo (YAL)

Ecological Descriptors

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

Extra Ecological Information

General carnivore, constrictor, semi-arboreal.

General References

Barnett, B. 1980. Captive breeding and a novel egg incubation technique of the Children's python (Liasis childreni). Herpetofauna 11: 15-18 (reproduction)

Dunn, R.W. 1979. Breeding Children's pythons, Liasis childreni, at Melbourne Zoo. International Zoo Yearbook 19: 89-90 (reproduction)

Sheargold, T. 1979. Notes on the reproduction of Children's pythons (Liasis childreni Gray, 1842). Herpetofauna 10: 2-4 (reproduction)

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

Worrell, E. 1951. Classification of Australian Boidae. Proceedings of the Royal Society of New South Wales 1949–50: 20-25 (taxonomy)

Common Name References

CAVS 2006. Census of Australian Vertebrate Species. Australian Biological Resources Study. (Children's Python)

History of changes

Distribution

States

New South Wales, Queensland

Extra Distribution Information

Australian Endemic.

IBRA

NSW, Qld: Brigalow Belt North (BBN), Brigalow Belt South (BBS), Central Mackay Coast (CMC), Einasleigh Uplands (EIU), Nandewar (NAN), New England Tablelands (NET), NSW North Coast (NNC), South Eastern Queensland (SEQ), Wet Tropics (WT) ; Qld: Cape York Peninsula (CYP)

General References

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. [203] (synonymised with Bothrochilus childreni (Gray, 1842))

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) [35] (subspecies not recognised)

Common Name References

Clayton, M., Wombey, J.C., Mason, I.J., Chesser, R.T. & Wells, A. 2006. CSIRO List of Australian Vertebrates: A Reference with Conservation Status. Melbourne : CSIRO Publishing iv 162 pp. [42] (Spotted Python)

History of changes

• Liasis maculosus Peters, W. 1873. Über eine neue Schildkrötenart, Cinosternon effeldtii und einige andere neue oder weniger bekannte Amphibien. Monatsberichte der Königlichen Preussischen Akademie der Wissenschaften zu Berlin 1873: 603-618 [1874 on title page] [608].

  Type data:

   
  Syntype(s) ZMB 5948, Port Mackay; ZMB 5860, Rockhampton; ZMB 7513, Port Clinton (as Port Bowen).

Generic Combinations

• Antaresia maculosa (Peters, 1873). —
  Kluge, A.G. 1993. Aspidites and the phylogeny of pythonine snakes. Australian Museum Records Supplement 19: 1-77 [51] (new combination)
• Morelia maculosa (Peters, 1873). —
  Underwood, G. & Stimson, A.F. 1990. A classification of the pythons (Serpentes, Pythoninae). Journal of Zoology, London 221(4): 565–603

Distribution

States

New South Wales, Queensland

Extra Distribution Information

Paluma Range, QLD (18°48'S) to far northern NSW (ca. 30°S)

Australian Endemic.

IBRA

NSW, Qld: Brigalow Belt North (BBN), Brigalow Belt South (BBS), Central Mackay Coast (CMC), Einasleigh Uplands (EIU), Nandewar (NAN), New England Tablelands (NET), NSW North Coast (NNC), South Eastern Queensland (SEQ), Wet Tropics (WT)

History of changes

• Antaresia maculosa pensinsularis Esquerré, Donnellan, Pavón-Vázquez, Fenker & Keogh, 2021.

  Type data:

   Holotype SAMA R12797 ♀, Cooktown, QLD [15.47°S; 142.25°E].
  Paratype(s) SAMA R46757 ♂, Cairns, QLD [16.92°S; 145.77°E]; SAMA R4906 ♀, Cairns, QLD [16.92°S; 145.77°E]; SAMA R9942 ♂, Leggitts Lagoon, QLD [15.43°S, 145.15°E]; QM 33,558 ♂, Cairns area, QLD [16.91°S; 145.77°E]; QM 78,127, Lockhart River area, QLD [12.97°S; 143.52°E]; QM 31,830, Portland Roads, QLD [12.6°S; 143.42°E]; MAGNT R5089 ♂, Edward River, QLD [14.65°S; 142.05°E].
• Antaresia maculosus brentonoloughlini Hoser, R. 2003. Five new Australian pythons. Newsletter Macarthur Herpetological Society 40: 4-9.

  Type data:

   Holotype AM R16772, 16 km east of Coen, Queensland [13°55'S 143°11'E].

Distribution

States

Queensland

Extra Distribution Information

Cape York to south of Cairns, QLD

Australian Endemic.

IBRA

Qld: Cape York Peninsula (CYP), Einasleigh Uplands (EIU), Wet Tropics (WT)

History of changes

• Antaresia maculosa papuensis Esquerré, D., Donnellan, S.C., Pavón-Vázquez, C.J., Fenker, J. & Keogh, J.S. 2021. Phylogeography, historical demography and systematics of the world’s smallest pythons (Pythonidae, Antaresia). Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 161(107181): 1-19 [13].

  Type data:

   Holotype AM 58,998 ♂, Badu Island, Torres Strait, QLD [10.12°S; 142.12°E].
  Paratype(s) AM R47895 ♀, Hammond Island, Torres Strait, QLD [10.53°S; 142.22°E]; AM R46906, R47383, Moa Island, Torres Strait, QLD [10.18°S; 142.27°E]; PNGM 25,085, Weam, Western Province, Papua New Guinea [8.61°S; 141.12°E].

Distribution

States

Queensland

Extra Distribution Information

Badu, Moa and Keriri (Hammond) Islands, Torres Strait, QLD; tropical, (Papua New Guinea)

Other Regions

Torres Strait Islands terrestrial, marine & freshwater

History of changes

• Liasis childreni perthensis Stull, O.G. 1932. Five new subspecies of the family Boidae. Occasional Papers of the Boston Society of Natural History 8: 25-30 [26].

  Type data:

   Holotype MCZ 24426, Perth, WA.

Generic Combinations

• Bothrochilus perthensis (Stull, 1932).

Distribution

States

Western Australia

Extra Distribution Information

Australian Endemic.

IBRA

WA: Carnarvon (CAR), Gascoyne (GAS)

Ecological Descriptors

Nocturnal, predator, terrestrial.

Extra Ecological Information

General carnivore, constrictor.

General References

Mitchell, F.J. 1965. Australian geckos assigned to the genus Gehyra Gray. (Reptilia: Gekkonidae). Senckenbergiana Biologica 46: 287-319 (natural history)

Common Name References

Clayton, M., Wombey, J.C., Mason, I.J., Chesser, R.T. & Wells, A. 2006. CSIRO List of Australian Vertebrates: A Reference with Conservation Status. Melbourne : CSIRO Publishing iv 162 pp. [42] (Pygmy Python)

History of changes

• 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

• Liasis Gray, J.E. 1842. Synopsis of the species of prehensile-tailed snakes, or family Boidae. pp. 41-46 in Gray, J.E. (ed.). The Zoological Miscellany. London : Treuttel, Würz & Co. [44] [nom. nud.].
• Liasis Gray, J.E. 1840. Synopsis of the contents of the British Museum. London : G. Woodfall and Son 42nd Edn., 1st impression (16 October 1840), [iv] + 370 pp. [42] [nom. nud.].
• Simalia Gray, J.E. 1849. Catalogue of the Specimens of Snakes in the Collection of the British Museum. London : Trustees of the British Museum xv 125 pp. [91] [see also synonymy of Morelia].

  Type species (included species):

   Liasis amethystinus ([sic] Schneider, 1801); Liasis macklotii ([sic] Duméril & Bibron, 1844)
• Lisalia Gray, J.E. 1849. Catalogue of the Specimens of Snakes in the Collection of the British Museum. London : Trustees of the British Museum xv 125 pp. [92] [described as subgenus of Liasis].

  Type species:

   Liasis olivacea Gray, 1849 by monotypy.
• Katrinus Hoser, R. 2000. A revision of the Australasian pythons. Ophidia Review 1: 7-27 [17] [feminine gender specified].

  Type species:

   Liasis fuscus Peters, 1873 by original designation.

Introduction

Considerable confusion existed regarding the type-species of Liasis. Gray (1842: 44) included childreni, amethistina, and olivacea in his description of Liasis but did not designate a type-species. Demarest In d'Orbigny, 1846, Diet. Univ. Hist. Nat. 7: 808 pp. [337], subsequently designated Boa amethistina Schneider, 1801 [= Morelia amethistina (Schneider, 1801)] as the type species.
McDowell, 1975, J. Herpetol. 9:1-79[31], apparently unaware of Demarest's designation, treated Liasis childreni [= Antaresia childreni] as the type-species, presumably based on Gray's subsequent assignment of Liasis childreni to the subgenus Liasis Gray (1849:91). McDowell also pointed out that Gray's (1842:44) concept of Liasis amethystinus was based on the same specimen that A.-M.-C. Dumeril and Bibron, 1844, Erp. Gen. 6: 609 pp. [440], later described as Liasis mackloti. Aware of these problems, Stimson and McDowell, 1986, Bull. Zool. Nomencl. 43:330-334, in accordance with Article 70(a) of the Rules of Zoological Nomenclature petitioned to have mackloti designated as the type species for Liasis. Their application resulted in Opinion 1514 (1988, Bull. ZooI. Nomencl. 45: 244) which ruled mackloti as the type-species of Liasis.

Systematic treatments of species of Liasis and for that matter most other Australian pythons over the past 25 years have added considerable nomenclatural confusion. Stimson, 1969, Das Tierreich 89: 1-49, recognized nine species of Liasis, including the three contained here, plus other species currently assigned to the genera Antaresia, Apodora, and Morelia.
McDowell (1975: 3 1- 3 3) recognized two species groups of Liasis: the olivaceus group containing olivaceus, mackloti (in which he included
fuscus), and papuanus [= Apodora papuana], and the boa group including boa [= Bothrochilus boa], albertisii [= Leiopython albertisii], and childreni [= Antaresia childreni]. Cogger, Cameron and Cogger (1983: 200-204) assigned the Australian species of Liasis and several other taxa to the genus Bothrochilus. Subsequently, Cogger, 1992, Amph. Rept. Australia. 5th ed., 775 pp.[606-·608], referred the three Australian species (plus albertisii [= Leiopython albertisii] and childreni, perthensis, and stimsoni [all species of Antaresia] to Liasis.

The current taxonomic treatment follows Kluge, 1993, Rec. Australian Mus. Suppl. 19: 1- 77, except that we prefer to recognize Liasis fuscus as distinct from Liasis
mackloti following Cogger (1992) and the arguments made by Barker and Barker, 1994, Pythons World 1: 171 pp.[30], and others summarized therein.

Distribution

States

Northern Territory, Queensland, Western Australia

IBRA

NT, Qld, WA: Arnhem Coast (ARC), Arnhem Plateau (ARP), Central Arnhem (CA), Central Kimberley (CK), Cape York Peninsula (CYP), Daly Basin (DAB), Darwin Coastal (DAC), 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), Tiwi Cobourg (TIW), Victoria Bonaparte (VB), Wet Tropics (WT) ; WA: Gascoyne (GAS)

History of changes

• Liasis fuscus Peters, W. 1873. Über eine neue Schildkrötenart, Cinosternon effeldtii und einige andere neue oder weniger bekannte Amphibien. Monatsberichte der Königlichen Preussischen Akademie der Wissenschaften zu Berlin 1873: 603-618 [1874 on title page] [607].

  Type data:

   Holotype ZMB 7840 (presumed lost), Port Clinton (as Port Bowen), QLD.
• Liasis cornwallisius Günther, A. 1879. Notice of a collection of reptiles from islands of Torres Straits. Annals and Magazine of Natural History 5 3: 84-87 [85].

  Type data:

   Holotype BMNH 1946.1.10.41, Dauan (as Cornwallis) Is., Torres Strait, QLD.
• Nardoa crassa Macleay, W. 1885. On some reptilia lately received from the Herbert River District, Queensland. Proceedings of the Linnean Society of New South Wales 10: 64-68 [1886 on title page] [66].

  Type data:

   
  Syntype(s) AM B5940, 'vicinity of Herbert River', QLD; AM R31886 (third syntype presumed lost).
• Katrinus fuscus jackyae Hoser, R. 2003. Five new Australian pythons. Newsletter Macarthur Herpetological Society 40: 4-9 [page number not cited; original publication not seen; information taken from website www.smuggled.com/PytRev11.htm Schleip and O'Shea (2010) consider this name a nomen dubium].

  Type data:

   Holotype WAM 42796, Kalumburu, WA [14°18'S 126°39'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. [203]
• 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

• Bothrochilus fuscus (Peters, 1873). —
  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. [203]

Distribution

States

Northern Territory, Queensland, Western Australia

Extra Distribution Information

Australian Endemic.

IBRA

NT, Qld, WA: Arnhem Coast (ARC), Arnhem Plateau (ARP), Central Arnhem (CA), Central Kimberley (CK), Cape York Peninsula (CYP), Daly Basin (DAB), Darwin Coastal (DAC), 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), Tiwi Cobourg (TIW), Victoria Bonaparte (VB), Wet Tropics (WT)

Ecological Descriptors

Closed forest, low open woodland, nocturnal, open forest, oviparous, predator, swamp, terrestrial, woodland.

Extra Ecological Information

General carnivore, constrictor, semi-aquatic.

General References

Churchill, G. 1971. Notes on water pythons (Liasis fuscus). Herpetofauna 3: 8 (natural history)

McDowell, S.B. 1975. A catalogue of the snakes of New Guinea and the Solomons, with special reference to those in the Bernice P. Bishop Museum. Part II. Anilioidea and Pythoninae. Journal of Herpetology 9: 1-79 (taxonomy, as L. mackloti)

Ross, R. & Larman, R. 1977. Captive breeding in two species of python, Liasis albertisii and L. mackloti. International Zoo Yearbook 17: 133-136 (reproduction, as L. mackloti)

Smith, L.A. 1981. A revision of the Liasis olivaceus species-group (Serpentes: Boidae) in Western Australia. Records of the Western Australian Museum 9: 227-233 (taxonomy, as. L. mackloti)

Common Name References

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

History of changes

Generic Combinations

• Bothrochilus olivaceus (Gray, 1842). —
  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. [204]

Distribution

States

Northern Territory, Queensland, Western Australia

Extra Distribution Information

Australian Endemic.

IBRA

NT, Qld, WA: Arnhem Coast (ARC), Arnhem Plateau (ARP), Central Arnhem (CA), Central Kimberley (CK), Daly Basin (DAB), Darwin Coastal (DAC), Gulf Fall and Uplands (GFU), Gulf Coastal (GUC), Gulf Plains (GUP), Northern Kimberley (NK), Pine Creek (PCK), Pilbara (PIL), Tiwi Cobourg (TIW), Victoria Bonaparte (VB) ; WA: Gascoyne (GAS)

Ecological Descriptors

Arboreal, low open shrubland, nocturnal, open forest, oviparous, predator, terrestrial, woodland.

Extra Ecological Information

General carnivore, constrictor, often saxicoline.

(no title)

Synonymous species located outside Australia.

Liasis tornieri Werner, F. (1897). Über einige noch unbeschriebene Reptilian und Batrachier. Zool. Anz. 20: 261-267 [261].
Type data: holotype NHMW 15078.
locality: Bogadjim, (as Stephansport), Papua New Guinea [05º25´S 145º45´E].

Taxonomic decision for synonymy: Cogger, H.G. (1983). in Cogger, H.G., Cameron, E.E. & Cogger, H.M. Amphibia and Reptiles. In Walton, D.W. (ed.) Zoological Catalogue of Australia. Vol. 1. Netley, South Australia : Griffin Press Ltd vi 313 pp. [204].

General References

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. [204] (subspecies not identified in Cogger et al. (1983: 204), in which Bothrochilus olivaceus was recognised as the valid name and Cogger listed as synonyms Liasis papuanus Peters & Doria; L. tornieri Werner; and L. olivaceus barroni Smith)

McDowell, S.B. 1975. A catalogue of the snakes of New Guinea and the Solomons, with special reference to those in the Bernice P. Bishop Museum. Part II. Anilioidea and Pythoninae. Journal of Herpetology 9: 1-79 (taxonomy)

Smith, L.A. 1981. A revision of the Liasis olivaceus species-group (Serpentes: Boidae) in Western Australia. Records of the Western Australian Museum 9: 227-233 (taxonomy)

Worrell, E. 1951. Classification of Australian Boidae. Proceedings of the Royal Society of New South Wales 1949–50: 20-25 (taxonomy)

Common Name References

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

History of changes

• Liasis olivaceus barroni Smith, L.A. 1981. A revision of the Liasis olivaceus species-group (Serpentes: Boidae) in Western Australia. Records of the Western Australian Museum 9: 227-233 [231].

  Type data:

   Holotype WAM R55383, Pindrunna, 32 km north-west of Tambrey, WA [21°38'S, 117°36'E].
  Paratype(s) WAM R17694, R24920, R31143, R33420, R45617, R54378, R58935, R60708 8 specimens.

Distribution

States

Western Australia

Extra Distribution Information

Pilbara and Gascoyne regions.

IBRA

WA: Gascoyne (GAS), Pilbara (PIL)

Ecological Descriptors

Arboreal, low open shrubland, nocturnal, open forest, oviparous, predator, terrestrial, woodland.

General References

Ellis, R.J. 2015. Corrections of the type specimens of Liasis olivaceus barroni Smith, 1981 (Serpentes: Pythonidae). Records of the Western Australian Museum 30: 61-63

History of changes

• Liasis olivacea Gray, J.E. 1842. Synopsis of the species of prehensile-tailed snakes, or family Boidae. pp. 41-46 in Gray, J.E. (ed.). The Zoological Miscellany. London : Treuttel, Würz & Co. [45].

  Type data:

   Holotype BMNH 1946.1.1.56, Port Essington, NT.

Distribution

States

Northern Territory, Queensland, Western Australia

IBRA

NT, Qld, WA: Arnhem Coast (ARC), Arnhem Plateau (ARP), Central Arnhem (CA), Central Kimberley (CK), Daly Basin (DAB), Darwin Coastal (DAC), Gulf Fall and Uplands (GFU), Gulf Coastal (GUC), Gulf Plains (GUP), Northern Kimberley (NK), Pine Creek (PCK), Tiwi Cobourg (TIW), Victoria Bonaparte (VB)

Ecological Descriptors

Arboreal, low open shrubland, nocturnal, open forest, oviparous, predator, terrestrial, woodland.

History of changes

• Morelia Gray, J.E. 1842. Synopsis of the species of prehensile-tailed snakes, or family Boidae. pp. 41-46 in Gray, J.E. (ed.). The Zoological Miscellany. London : Treuttel, Würz & Co. [43].

  Type species:

   Morelia variegata Gray, 1842 by subsequent designation, see McDowell, S.B. 1975. A catalogue of the snakes of New Guinea and the Solomons, with special reference to those in the Bernice P. Bishop Museum. Part II. Anilioidea and Pythoninae. Journal of Herpetology 9: 1-79.
• Chondropython Meyer, A.B. 1874. Eine mitteilung von Hrn. Dr. Adolf Bernhard Meyer über die von ihm auf Neu-Guinea den Inseln Jobi, Mysore und Mafoor im Jahr 1873 gesammelten Amphibien. Monatsberichte der Königlichen Preussischen Akademie der Wissenschaften zu Berlin 1874: 128-140 [1875 on title page] [134].

  Type species:

   Chondropython azureus Meyer, 1874 by monotypy.
• Aspidopython Meyer, A.B. 1874. Eine mitteilung von Hrn. Dr. Adolf Bernhard Meyer über die von ihm auf Neu-Guinea den Inseln Jobi, Mysore und Mafoor im Jahr 1873 gesammelten Amphibien. Monatsberichte der Königlichen Preussischen Akademie der Wissenschaften zu Berlin 1874: 128-140 [1875 on title page] [135].

  Type species:

   Aspidopython jakati Meyer, 1874 by monotypy.
• Hypaspistes Ogilby, J.D. 1891. Descriptions of three new Papuan snakes. Records of the Australian Museum 1: 192-194 [192] [non Waterhouse, 1886].

  Type species:

   Hypaspites dipsadides Ogilby, 1891 by monotypy.
• Australiasis Wells, R.W. & Wellington, C.R. 1984. A synopsis of the class Reptilia in Australia. Australian Journal of Herpetology 1(3-4): 73-129 [1983 on title page] [106].

  Type species:

   Boa amethystina Schneider, 1801 by original designation.
• Nyctophilopython Wells, R.W. & Wellington, C.R. 1985. A classification of the Amphibia and Reptilia of Australia. Australian Journal of Herpetology Supplementary Series 1: 1-61 [Date published September, 1985] [42].

  Type species:

   Python oenpelliensis Gow, 1977 by original designation.
• Lenhoserus Hoser, R. 2000. A revision of the Australasian pythons. Ophidia Review 1: 7-27.

  Type species:

   Python boeleni Brongersma, 1953 by original designation.
• Montypythonoides Smith, M.J. & Plane, M. 1985. Pythonine snakes (Boidae) from the Miocene of Australia. Journal of Australian Geology and Geophysics 9: 191-195.

  Type species:

   Montypythonoides riversleighensis Smith and Plane, 1985 (extinct species) by original designation.

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. [205]
• 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)

Distribution

States

Australian Capital Territory, New South Wales, Northern Territory, Queensland, South Australia, Victoria, Western Australia

Extra Distribution Information

Moluccas, Ceram, Ambon, Kei Ils, Aru Ils, Bismark Archipelago.

IBRA

ACT, NSW, NT, Qld, SA, Vic, WA: Arnhem Coast (ARC), Arnhem Plateau (ARP), Avon Wheatbelt (AW), Brigalow Belt North (BBN), Brigalow Belt South (BBS), Broken Hill Complex (BHC), Central Arnhem (CA), Channel Country (CHC), Central Mackay Coast (CMC), Coolgardie (COO), Cobar Peneplain (CP), Cape York Peninsula (CYP), Daly Basin (DAB), Darwin Coastal (DAC), Desert Uplands (DEU), Darling Riverine Plains (DRP), Einasleigh Uplands (EIU), Esperance Plains (ESP), Eyre Yorke Block (EYB), Flinders Lofty Block (FLB), Geraldton Sandplains (GS), Gulf Coastal (GUC), Hampton (HAM), Jarrah Forest (JF), Mallee (MAL), Murray Darling Depression (MDD), Mulga Lands (ML), Nandewar (NAN), New England Tablelands (NET), Northern Kimberley (NK), NSW North Coast (NNC), NSW South Western Slopes (NSS), Pine Creek (PCK), Riverina (RIV), Sydney Basin (SB), South East Corner (SEC), South Eastern Highlands (SEH), South Eastern Queensland (SEQ), Swan Coastal Plain (SWA), Tiwi Cobourg (TIW), Victoria Bonaparte (VB), Warren (WAR), Wet Tropics (WT) ; NT: MacDonnell Ranges (MAC)

Distribution References

History of changes

• Python bredli Gow, G.F. 1981. A new species of python from central Australia. Australian Journal of Herpetology 1: 29-34 [29].

  Type data:

   Holotype NTM R4535, Pitchie Ritchie Park, Alice Springs, NT [23°42'S 133°51'E].

Generic Combinations

• Morelia bredli (Gow, 1981).

Distribution

States

Northern Territory

Extra Distribution Information

Australian Endemic.

IBRA

NT: MacDonnell Ranges (MAC)

Ecological Descriptors

Arboreal, desert, nocturnal, oviparous, predator, terrestrial.

Extra Ecological Information

General carnivore, constrictor.

History of changes

• Python carinatus 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 [220].

  Type data:

   Holotype WAM R45352, Mitchell River Falls, WA [14°50'S 125°42'E].

Generic Combinations

• Morelia carinata (Smith, 1981).

Distribution

States

Western Australia

Extra Distribution Information

Australian Endemic.

IBRA

WA: Northern Kimberley (NK)

Common Name References

Clayton, M., Wombey, J.C., Mason, I.J., Chesser, R.T. & Wells, A. 2006. CSIRO List of Australian Vertebrates: A Reference with Conservation Status. Melbourne : CSIRO Publishing iv 162 pp. [42] (Rough-scaled Python)

History of changes

• Python spilotus imbricatus 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 [222, fig. 7].

  Type data:

   Holotype WAM R54340, Jurien Bay, WA [30°18'S 115°02'E].
• Morelia macburniei Hoser, R. 2003. Five new Australian pythons. Newsletter Macarthur Herpetological Society 40: 4-9 [page number not cited; original publication not seen; information taken from website www.smuggled.com/PytRev11.htm].

  Type data:

   Holotype SAMA R13994, St Francis Island, in the Nuyts Archipelago near Ceduna, South Australia [32°31'S 133°18'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

• Morelia imbricata (Smith, 1981). —
  Esquerré, D., Donnellan, S., Brennan, I.G., Lemmon, A.R., Lemmon, E.M., Zaher, H., Grazziotin, F.G. & Keogh, S.J. 2020. Phylogenomics, biogeography, and morphometrics reveal rapid phenotypic evolution in pythons after crossing Wallace’s Line. Systematic Biology 69(6): 1039-1051 (Supplementary Material: Appendix IV pages un-numbered)
• Morelia spilota imbricata (Smith, 1981). —
  Cogger, H.G. 2014. Reptiles and Amphibians of Australia. Collingwood : CSIRO publishing 7th edition, pp. xxx+1033. [830]

Distribution

States

Western Australia

Extra Distribution Information

SW and southern WA.

Australian Endemic.

IBRA

WA: Avon Wheatbelt (AW), Esperance Plains (ESP), Eyre Yorke Block (EYB), Geraldton Sandplains (GS), Jarrah Forest (JF), Mallee (MAL), Swan Coastal Plain (SWA), Warren (WAR)

History of changes

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

• Morelia spilota (Lacépède, 1804).

Distribution

States

Australian Capital Territory, New South Wales, Northern Territory, Queensland, South Australia, Victoria, Western Australia

Extra Distribution Information

Continental Australia, except southern VIC and arid centre and west; Extra-limital in New Guinea

IBRA

ACT, NSW, NT, Qld, SA, Vic, WA: Arnhem Coast (ARC), Arnhem Plateau (ARP), Avon Wheatbelt (AW), Brigalow Belt North (BBN), Brigalow Belt South (BBS), Broken Hill Complex (BHC), Central Arnhem (CA), Channel Country (CHC), Central Mackay Coast (CMC), Coolgardie (COO), Cobar Peneplain (CP), Cape York Peninsula (CYP), Daly Basin (DAB), Darwin Coastal (DAC), Desert Uplands (DEU), Darling Riverine Plains (DRP), Einasleigh Uplands (EIU), Esperance Plains (ESP), Eyre Yorke Block (EYB), Flinders Lofty Block (FLB), Geraldton Sandplains (GS), Gulf Coastal (GUC), Hampton (HAM), Jarrah Forest (JF), Mallee (MAL), Murray Darling Depression (MDD), Mulga Lands (ML), Nandewar (NAN), New England Tablelands (NET), Northern Kimberley (NK), NSW North Coast (NNC), NSW South Western Slopes (NSS), Pine Creek (PCK), Riverina (RIV), Sydney Basin (SB), South East Corner (SEC), South Eastern Highlands (SEH), South Eastern Queensland (SEQ), Swan Coastal Plain (SWA), Tiwi Cobourg (TIW), Victoria Bonaparte (VB), Warren (WAR), Wet Tropics (WT)

Ecological Descriptors

Arboreal, closed forest, low open shrubland, low open woodland, low woodland, nocturnal, open forest, open heath, open scrub, oviparous, predator, tall forest, tall open shrubland, tall shrubland, terrestrial, woodland.

Extra Ecological Information

General carnivore, constrictor.

General References

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. [206] (subspecies not identified in Cogger et al. (1983: 206), in which Cogger listed synonyms)

Covacevich, J. & Limpus, C. 1973. Two large winter aggregations of three species of tree-climbing snakes in south-eastern Queensland. Herpetofauna 6: 16-21 (aggregation)

Hay, M. 1971. Notes on breeding and growth rate of Morelia spilotes spilotes. Herpetofauna 3: 10 (reproduction)

Mackay, R. 1950. Notes on the diamond snake and carpet snake. Proceedings of the Royal Society of New South Wales 1948–49: 35-36 (natural history)

McDowell, S.B. 1975. A catalogue of the snakes of New Guinea and the Solomons, with special reference to those in the Bernice P. Bishop Museum. Part II. Anilioidea and Pythoninae. Journal of Herpetology 9: 1-79 (taxonomy)

Schwaner, T.D. & Dessauer, H.C. 1981. Immunodiffusion evidence for the relationships of Papuan boids. Journal of Herpetology 15: 250-253 (biochemical taxonomy)

Smith, L.A. 1981. A revision of the Liasis olivaceus species-group (Serpentes: Boidae) in Western Australia. Records of the Western Australian Museum 9: 227-233 (taxonomy)

Worrell, E. 1951. Classification of Australian Boidae. Proceedings of the Royal Society of New South Wales 1949–50: 20-25 (taxonomy)

Common Name References

Clayton, M., Wombey, J.C., Mason, I.J., Chesser, R.T. & Wells, A. 2006. CSIRO List of Australian Vertebrates: A Reference with Conservation Status. Melbourne : CSIRO Publishing iv 162 pp. [42] (Carpet Python)

History of changes

• Coluber spilotus Lacépède, B.G.E. 1804. Mémoire sur plusieurs animaux de la Nouvelle-Hollande dont la description n'a pas encore été publiée. Annales du Muséum National d'Histoire Naturelle. Paris 4: 184-211 pls 55-58 [209].

  Type data:

   Holotype MNHP 3272, Australia.
• Morelia harrisoni Hoser, R. 2000. A revision of the Australasian pythons. Ophidia Review 1: 7-27 [24].

  Type data:

   Holotype AMNH 82433, Port Moresby, PNG [9°30'S 147°10'E].

Generic Combinations

• Morelia spilota spilota (Lacépède, 1804).

Distribution

States

Australian Capital Territory, New South Wales, Victoria

Extra Distribution Information

NE VIC.

IBRA

ACT, NSW, Vic: NSW North Coast (NNC), Sydney Basin (SB), South East Corner (SEC)

Ecological Descriptors

Arboreal, closed forest, low open shrubland, low open woodland, low woodland, nocturnal, open forest, open heath, open scrub, oviparous, predator, tall forest, tall open shrubland, tall shrubland, terrestrial, woodland.

General References

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)

History of changes

• Morelia variegata Gray, J.E. 1842. Synopsis of the species of prehensile-tailed snakes, or family Boidae. pp. 41-46 in Gray, J.E. (ed.). The Zoological Miscellany. London : Treuttel, Würz & Co. [43].

  Type data:

   Holotype BMNH iv.1.2a, Port Essington, NT.
• Morelia cheynei Wells, R.W. & Wellington, C.R. 1984. A synopsis of the class Reptilia in Australia. Australian Journal of Herpetology 1(3-4): 73-129 [1983 on title page] [106].

  Type data:

   Holotype AM AM R111989 (previously AMFS28562, Ravenshoe, Atherton Tablelands, north QLD [17°36'S 145°29'E].

  Secondary source:

   Shea, G.M. & Sadlier, R.A. 1999. A catalogue of the non-fossil amphibian and reptile type specimens in the collection of the Australian Museum: types currently, previously and purportedly present. Technical Reports of the Australian Museum 15: 1-91 [65].
• Morelia mcdowelli Wells, R.W. & Wellington, C.R. 1984. A synopsis of the class Reptilia in Australia. Australian Journal of Herpetology 1(3-4): 73-129 [1983 on title page] [107].

  Type data:

   Holotype AM R116989 (previously AMF 28458, Terania Creek, NSW.

  Secondary source:

   Shea, G.M. & Sadlier, R.A. 1999. A catalogue of the non-fossil amphibian and reptile type specimens in the collection of the Australian Museum: types currently, previously and purportedly present. Technical Reports of the Australian Museum 15: 1-91 [65].
• Morelia metcalfei Wells, R.W. & Wellington, C.R. 1985. A classification of the Amphibia and Reptilia of Australia. Australian Journal of Herpetology Supplementary Series 1: 1-61 [Date published September, 1985] [41].

  Type data:

   Holotype AM R116988 (previously AMF 16782, Warrumbungle Mountains, NSW.

  Secondary source:

   Shea, G.M. & Sadlier, R.A. 1999. A catalogue of the non-fossil amphibian and reptile type specimens in the collection of the Australian Museum: types currently, previously and purportedly present. Technical Reports of the Australian Museum 15: 1-91 [65].

Taxonomic Decision for Synonymy

• Shea, G.M. & Sadlier, R.A. 1999. A catalogue of the non-fossil amphibian and reptile type specimens in the collection of the Australian Museum: types currently, previously and purportedly present. Technical Reports of the Australian Museum 15: 1-91 [65]

Distribution

States

Northern Territory, Western Australia

IBRA

NT, WA: Arnhem Coast (ARC), Arnhem Plateau (ARP), Central Arnhem (CA), Daly Basin (DAB), Darwin Coastal (DAC), Gulf Coastal (GUC), Northern Kimberley (NK), Pine Creek (PCK), Tiwi Cobourg (TIW), Victoria Bonaparte (VB)

Ecological Descriptors

Arboreal, closed forest, low open shrubland, low open woodland, low woodland, nocturnal, open forest, open heath, open scrub, oviparous, predator, tall forest, tall open shrubland, tall shrubland, terrestrial, woodland.

History of changes

• Python punctatus Merrem, B. 1820. Versuch eines Systems Amphibien. Tentamen Systematis Amphibiorum. Marburg : Krieger xv 199 pp. [90].

  Type data:

   Status unknown, (presumed lost), Australia.
• Python peronii Wagler, J.G. 1828. Descriptiones et Icones Amphibiorum. Part I. Plates I–XIII. Stuttgartiae, Tubingae. Monachii : J.G. Cottae. [pl. 1, and description] [ex Cuvier ms].

  Type data:

   
  Syntype(s) MNHP, Australia ('Dusky-Bay'); RMNH presumed lost (vide), 'Dusky Bay', Australia.
• Morelia argus Duméril, A.M.C. & Bibron, G. 1844. Erpétologie Générale ou Histoire Naturelle Complète des Reptiles. Paris : Roret Vol. 6 xii 609 pp. [385].

  Type data:

   Holotype whereabouts unknown (presumed lost), Australia and TAS.
• Morelia argus fasciolata Jan, G. 1863. Elenco Sistematico Degli Ofidi Descritti e Disegnati per l'Iconografia Generale. Milan : A. Lombardi 143 pp. [25] [nom. nud.].
• Morelia argus fasciolata Jan, G. 1864. Iconographie Générale des Ophidiens. Milan : G. Jan 100 pp. [95, Atlas livr. 7, pl. 5 fig. c].

  Type data:

   Status unknown, (figure of specimen in Milan), Australia.
• Python spilotes macrospila Werner, F. 1909. Über neue oder seltene Reptilien des Musée Royal d'Histoire Naturelle de Belgique in Brussell. Zoologische Jahrbücher. Abteilung für Systematik 28: 263-288 [274].

  Type data:

   Holotype RIB Type No. 2496 (General No. 4414), locality unknown.
• Coluber arges Linnaeus, C. 1758. Classis III. Amphibia. pp. 194-238 in Linnaeus, C. Systema naturae per regna tria naturae, secundem classes, ordines, genera, species, cum characteribus, differentis, synonymis, locis. Editio decima, reformata. Holmiae : Laurentii Salvii Vol. 1 10 Edn., 824 pp. [227] [for many years this name was widely but erroneously applied to the species represented by Coluber spilotus Lacépède, 1804; however the snake shown in the illustration in Seba, A. 1735. Locupeltissimi rerum naturalium thesauri accurata descriptio et iconibus artificiosissimis expressio, per universam physices historiam. Amsterdam Vol. 4. (pl. 103 fig. 1), on which Linnaeus' argus was based, purportedly came from 'Africa'. It is almost certainly not a specimen of any Australian species].

  Secondary source:

   Seba, A. 1735. Locupeltissimi rerum naturalium thesauri accurata descriptio et iconibus artificiosissimis expressio, per universam physices historiam. Amsterdam Vol. 4.

Ecological Descriptors

Arboreal, closed forest, low open shrubland, low open woodland, low woodland, nocturnal, open forest, open heath, open scrub, oviparous, predator, tall forest, tall open shrubland, tall shrubland, terrestrial, woodland.

History of changes

• Python viridis Schlegel, H. 1872. De Dierentuin van het Koninklijk Zoölogische Genootschap "Natura Artis Magistra" te Amsterdam zoölogisch geschetst door Prof H. Schlegel, met historische herinneringen van P.H. Witkampf. Amsterdam : Gebr, Van Es. [pt. 4, 54].

  Type data:

   Syntype(s) RMNH 4672 2 specimens, Aru (as Aroe) Ils, Indonesia.
• Chondropython pulcher Sauvage, H.E. 1878. Essai sur la faune herpétologique de la Nouvelle-Guinee, suivi de la description de quelques espèces nouvelles ou peu connues. Bulletin des Sciences, par la Société Philomathique de Paris 7 2: 25-44 [37].

  Type data:

   
  Syntype(s) MNHP 5087–89, Mansinam, Irian Jaya, Indonesia; MNHP 5168–70, Mansinam, Irian Jaya, Indonesia.
• Chondropython viridis shireenae Hoser, R. 2003. Five new Australian pythons. Newsletter Macarthur Herpetological Society 40: 4-9 [page number not cited; original publication not seen; information taken from website www.smuggled.com/PytRev11.htm].

  Type data:

   Holotype NMV D51862 (ex captive specimen), 'Cape York, Queensland'.

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. [204]
• 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)
• Natusch, D.J.D., Esquerré, D., Lyons, J.A., Hamidy, A., Lemmon, A.R. Lemmon, E.M., Riyanto, A., Keogh, S.J. & Donnellan, S. 2020. Species delimitation and systematics of the green pythons (Morelia viridis complex) of melanesia and Australia. Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 142: online version

Generic Combinations

• Morelia azurea (Meyer, 1874). —
  Barker, D.G., Barker, T.M., Davis, M.A. & Schuett, G.W. 2015. A review of the systematics and taxonomy of Pythonidae: an ancient serpent lineage. Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society 175: 1–19 [12]
• Morelia viridis (Schlegel, 1872). —
  Kluge, A.G. 1993. Aspidites and the phylogeny of pythonine snakes. Australian Museum Records Supplement 19: 1-77 [1]
• Chondropython viridis (Schlegel, 1872). —
  Cogger, H.G., Cameron, E.E. & Cogger, H.M. 1983. Amphibia and Reptilia. In, Walton, D.W. (ed.). Zoological Catalogue of Australia. Canberra : Australian Government Publishing Service Vol. 1 vi + 313 pp. [204]

Introduction

Morelia azurea was previously considered as a synonym of M. viridis, however the work of Natusch et al. (2019) demonstrated that it is a valid species restricted to NW Papua New Guinea.

Distribution

States

Queensland

Extra Distribution Information

Rainforest areas of eastern Cape York Peninsula; New Guinea.

IBRA

Qld: Cape York Peninsula (CYP)

Ecological Descriptors

Arboreal, closed forest, nocturnal, oviparous, predator.

Extra Ecological Information

General carnivore, constrictor.

General References

Cogger, H.G. 2014. Reptiles and Amphibians of Australia. Collingwood : CSIRO publishing 7th edition, pp. xxx+1033. [831]

Groombridge, B.C. 1979. Variations in morphology of the superficial palate of henophidian snakes and some possible systematic implications. Journal of Natural History 13: 447-475 (morphology)

McDowell, S.B. 1975. A catalogue of the snakes of New Guinea and the Solomons, with special reference to those in the Bernice P. Bishop Museum. Part II. Anilioidea and Pythoninae. Journal of Herpetology 9: 1-79 (taxonomy)

Murphy, J.B., Carpenter, C.C. & Gillingham, J.C. 1978. Caudal luring in the green tree python, Chondropython viridis (Reptilia, Serpentes, Boidae). Journal of Herpetology 12: 117-119 (behaviour)

Natusch, D.J.D., Esquerré, D., Lyons, J.A., Hamidy, A., Lemmon, A.R. Lemmon, E.M., Riyanto, A., Keogh, S.J. & Donnellan, S. 2020. Species delimitation and systematics of the green pythons (Morelia viridis complex) of melanesia and Australia. Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 142: online version

Common Name References

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

History of changes

• Nyctophilopython Wells, R.W. & Wellington, C.R. 1985. A classification of the Amphibia and Reptilia of Australia. Australian Journal of Herpetology Supplementary Series 1: 1-61 [Date published September, 1985] [42].

  Type species:

   Python oenpelliensis Gow, 1977 by original designation.
• Nawaran Esquerré, D., Donnellan, S., Brennan, I.G., Lemmon, A.R., Lemmon, E.M., Zaher, H., Grazziotin, F.G. & Keogh, S.J. 2020. Phylogenomics, biogeography, and morphometrics reveal rapid phenotypic evolution in pythons after crossing Wallace’s Line. Systematic Biology 69(6): 1039-1051 [10] [objective synonym].
  Zoobank Registration Number:AE7664EF-8E4D-4488-BD88-9C3B3EEC9C20

  Type species:

   Python oenpelliensis Gow, 1977 by original designation.

Taxonomic Decision for Synonymy

• Kaiser, H., Thomson, S.A. & Shea, G.M. 2020. Nawaran Esquerré, Donnellan, Brennan, Lemmon, Lemmon, Zaher, Grazziotin & Keogh, 2020 is an invalid junior synonym of Nyctophilopython Wells & Wellington, 1985 (Squamata, Pythonidae): simple priority without Zoobank pre-registration. Bionomina 20: 47-54

Distribution

States

Northern Territory

IBRA

NT: Arnhem Plateau (ARP)

History of changes

• Python oenpelliensis Gow, G.F. 1977. A new species of python from Arnhem Land. The Australian Zoologist 19: 133-139 [133, figs 1-3].

  Type data:

   Holotype NTM R0840, 6.5 km SW Oenpelli, NT [12°21'S 133°01'E].

Generic Combinations

• Morelia oenpelliensis (Gow, 1977). —
  Cogger, H.G., Cameron, E.E. & Cogger, H.M. 1983. Amphibia and Reptilia. In, Walton, D.W. (ed.). Zoological Catalogue of Australia. Canberra : Australian Government Publishing Service Vol. 1 vi + 313 pp. [206] (changed combination cited)
• Simalia oenpelliensis (Gow, 1977). —
  Reynolds, R.G., Niemiller, M.L. & Revell, L.J. 2014. Toward a Tree-of-Life for the boas and pythons: Multilocus species-level phylogeny with unprecedented taxon sampling. Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 71: 201–213 [211]
• Nyctophilopython oenpelliensis (Gow, 1977). —
  Wells, R.W. & Wellington, C.R. 1985. A classification of the Amphibia and Reptilia of Australia. Australian Journal of Herpetology Supplementary Series 1: 1-61 [Date published September, 1985] [42] (new combination as type species of the genus Nyctophilopython )
• Nawaran oenpelliensis (Gow, 1977). —
  Esquerré, D., Donnellan, S., Brennan, I.G., Lemmon, A.R., Lemmon, E.M., Zaher, H., Grazziotin, F.G. & Keogh, S.J. 2020. Phylogenomics, biogeography, and morphometrics reveal rapid phenotypic evolution in pythons after crossing Wallace’s Line. Systematic Biology 69(6): 1039-1051 [10] (Nawaran an objective synonym of Nyctophilopython)

Distribution

States

Northern Territory

Extra Distribution Information

Australian Endemic.

IBRA

NT: Arnhem Plateau (ARP)

Ecological Descriptors

Arboreal, nocturnal, open forest, oviparous, predator, saxicoline, terrestrial.

Extra Ecological Information

General carnivore, constrictor.

General References

Jenkins, R.W.G. 1979. The status of endangered Australian reptiles. pp. 169-176 in, The Status of Endangered Australasian Wildlife. Adelaide : Royal Zoological Society of South Australia. (conservation)

Swanson, S. 1979. Some rock-dwelling reptiles of the Arnhem Land escarpment. Northern Territory Naturalist 1: 14-18 (natural history)

Common Name References

Clayton, M., Wombey, J.C., Mason, I.J., Chesser, R.T. & Wells, A. 2006. CSIRO List of Australian Vertebrates: A Reference with Conservation Status. Melbourne : CSIRO Publishing iv 162 pp. [42] (Oenpelli Python, Nawaran, Oenpelli Rock Python)

History of changes

• Simalia Gray, J.E. 1849. Catalogue of the Specimens of Snakes in the Collection of the British Museum. London : Trustees of the British Museum xv 125 pp. [91].

  Type species:

   Boa amethistina Schneider, 1801 by original designation.

Distribution

IBRA

Central Mackay Coast (CMC), Cape York Peninsula (CYP), Wet Tropics (WT)

History of changes

• Liasis amethistinus kinghorni Stull, O.G. 1933. Two new subspecies of the family Boidae. Occasional Papers of the Museum of Zoology, University of Michigan 12(267): 1-4.

  Type data:

   Holotype MCZ 35022, Lake Barrine, Queensland, Australia.

Generic Combinations

• Morelia kinghorni (Stull, 1933).
• Simalia kinghorni (Stull, 1933).

Distribution

Extra Distribution Information

Australian Endemic.

IBRA

Central Mackay Coast (CMC), Cape York Peninsula (CYP), Wet Tropics (WT)

General References

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. [205] (as junior synonym of Morelia amethistina (Schneider, 1801))

History of changes

• Morelia mippughae Hoser, R. 2003. Five new Australian pythons. Newsletter Macarthur Herpetological Society 40: 4-9 [page number not cited; original publication not seen; information taken from website www.smuggled.com/PytRev11.htm Schleip and Plane (2010) consider this name a nomen dubium].

  Type data:

   Holotype SAMA R14261, Iron Dutchess, Middleback Ranges, South Australia [33°15'S 137°07'E].
• Leiopython hoserae Hoser, R. 2000. A revision of the Australasian pythons. Ophidia Review 1: 7-27.

History of changes