Antaresia perthensis

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Antaresia perthensis

Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Subphylum: Vertebrata
Class: Reptilia
Order: Squamata
Suborder: Serpentes
Family: Pythonidae
Genus: Antaresia
Species: A. perthensis
Binomial name
Antaresia perthensis
(Stull, 1932)
Synonyms
  • Liasis childreni perthensis - Stull, 1932
  • Liasis perthensis - Cogger, Cameron & Cogger, 1983
  • Bothrochilus perthensis - Cogger, Cameron & Cogger, 1983
  • Morelia perthensis - Underwood & Stimson, 1990
  • Liasis perthensis - Cogger, 1992
  • A[ntaresia]. perthensis - Kluge, 1993[1]
Common names: pygmy python, anthill python.

Antaresia perthensis is a species of snake found in western Australia. The smallest member of the Pythonidae family, and known as the Pygmy python, the species is also termed the Ant-hill python for its occurrence in termite mounds. The specific epithet is derived from the state capital, Perth, but this is not within the distribution range.[2] No subspecies are currently recognized.[3]

Contents

[edit] Description

A neonate (newborn) will be 8 inches in length and about 4 grams in weight. A yearling (one year old) will average about 25 grams in weight. Adults (over 3 years old) grow to about 50cm (28 inches) in length and have a weight near 210 grams.

[edit] Geographic range

Found in Australia in the northwest of Western Australia and on some coastal islands. The type locality given is "Perth, West Australia" (Western Australia); an erroneous assumption of the place where the specimen was collected. The unfamiliarity of Europeans with the place of a specimen's collection has given rise to other 'naming peculiarities'.[2] According to L.A. Smith (1985), the type locality is unknown.[1]

[edit] See also

[edit] References

  1. ^ a b McDiarmid RW, Campbell JA, Touré T. 1999. Snake Species of the World: A Taxonomic and Geographic Reference, vol. 1. Herpetologists' League. 511 pp. ISBN 1-893777-00-6 (series). ISBN 1-893777-01-4 (volume).
  2. ^ a b Browne-Cooper, R., Bush, B., Maryan, B., Robinson, D. (2007). "Houtman Abrolhos", Reptiles and Frogs in the Bush: Southwestern Australia. University of Western Australia Press. ISBN 9778 1 920694 74 6. 
  3. ^ Antaresia perthensis (TSN 634766). Integrated Taxonomic Information System. Retrieved on 17 August 2007.