Species Suta flagellum (McCoy, 1878)

Museums

Regional Maps

• Hoplocephalus flagellum McCoy, F. 1878. The little whip snake. Prodromus of the Zoology of Victoria 2: 7-9 pl. 11 fig. 1 [7, pl. 11 fig. 1].

  Type data:

   Lectotype NMV D4259, Boroondara, Prahran, South Brighton, Caulfield and Mount Martha, VIC.

  Subsequent designation references:

  Coventry, A.J. 1970. Reptile and amphibian type specimens housed in the National Museum of Victoria. Memoirs of the National Museum of Victoria, Melbourne 31: 115-124.
• H[oplocephalus] flagellum McCoy, F. 1867. On the recent zoology and palaeontology of Victoria. Annals and Magazine of Natural History 3 20: 175-202 [182] [as H. flagellum, nom. nud.].
• Parasuta harveyi 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] [47].

  Type data:

   Holotype AM R74469, near Lake George, Bungendore, NSW [35°12'S 149°27'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 [66].

 

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. [238]

 

Generic Combinations

• Rhinoplocephalus flagellum (McCoy, 1878).
• Unechis flagellum (McCoy, 1878). —
  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. [238]
• Suta flagellum (McCoy, 1878). —
  Maryan, B., Brennan, I.G., Hutchinson, M.N. & Geidans, L.S 2020. What’s under the hood? Phylogeny and taxonomy of the snake genera Parasuta Worrell and Suta Worrell (Squamata: Elapidae), with a description of a new species from the Pilbara, Western Australia. Zootaxa 4778(1): 1-47 [7]
• Parasuta flagellum (McCoy, 1878) [Para]. —
  Cogger, H.G. 2014. Reptiles and Amphibians of Australia. Collingwood : CSIRO publishing 7th edition, pp. xxx+1033. [910]

 

Distribution

States

Australian Capital Territory, New South Wales, South Australia, Victoria

Extra Distribution Information

Southeastern SA through VIC to SE NSW to ACT

Australian Endemic.

IBRA and IMCRA regions

IBRA

ACT, NSW, SA, Vic: Australian Alps (AA), Kanmantoo (KAN), Naracoorte Coastal Plain (NCP), South Eastern Highlands (SEH), Victorian Midlands (VM), Victorian Volcanic Plain (VVP)

Ecological Descriptors

Cryptozoic, nocturnal, open forest, predator, terrestrial, woodland.

Extra Ecological Information

Viviparous.

 

General References

Coventry, A.J. 1971. Identification of the black-headed snakes (Denisonia) within Victoria. Victorian Naturalist 88: 304-306 (general, in VIC)

Fyfe, G. 1980. Breeding of the little whipsnakes (Unechisle flagellum). Victorian Herpetological Society Newsletter 20: 2 (reproduction)

Lillywhite, H.B. 1980. Behavioral thermoregulation in Australian elapid snakes. Copeia 1980: 452-458 (thermoregulation)

 

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. [45] (Little Whip Snake)

 

History of changes

Published	As part of group	Action Date	Action Type	Compiler(s)
25-Feb-2022	Hydrophiinae Fitzinger, 1843	09-Oct-2020	MODIFIED
25-Feb-2022	ELAPIDAE Boie, 1827	25-Sep-2020	MOVED
07-Feb-2024	ELAPIDAE	09-Feb-2016	MODIFIED
07-Feb-2024		08-Jul-2014	MODIFIED
08-Mar-2011		02-May-2011	MODIFIED
		12-Feb-2010	(import)