Morelia (snake)

"Morelia (genus)" redirects here. For the plant genus, see List of Rubiaceae genera.
Morelia
Morelia spilota
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Subphylum: Vertebrata
Class: Reptilia
Order: Squamata
Suborder: Serpentes
Family: Pythonidae
Genus: Morelia
J. E. Gray, 1842
Synonyms
  • Morelia Gray, 1842
  • Simalia Gray, 1849
  • Chondropython Meyer, 1874
  • Aspidopython Meyer, 1874
  • Hypaspistes Ogilby, 1919
  • Australiasis Wells & Wellington, 1984
  • Nyctophylopython Wells & Wellington, 1984[1]
  • Montypythonoides M.J. Smith and Plane, 1985[2]

Morelia is a genus of large snakes in the Pythonidae family. They are found in Indonesia, New Guinea, and throughout Australia. Currently, 8 species are recognized.[3]

In general, these snakes are arboreal to semi-arboreal, spending much of their life in the forest canopy. Although there are exceptions, most attain adult lengths of 2–3 m (6.6–9.8 ft).

Geographic range

Found from Indonesia in the Maluku Islands, east through New Guinea, including the Bismarck Archipelago and in Australia.[1]

Species

There are seven species recognised at ITIS.[3]

Species[3] IUCN Status[4] Taxon author[3] Subsp.*[3] Common name Geographic range[1]
M. amethistina

LC[5] (Schneider, 1801) 5 Amethystine python; Scrub python Indonesia (Maluku Islands, Timorlaut Islands, Banda, Kai Islands, Aru Islands, Misool, Selawati, most of Western New Guinea, many islands in Geelvink Bay), Papua New Guinea (including Umboi Island, Bismarck Archipelago, Trobriand Islands, the d'Entrecasteaux Islands to Rossel Island, Louisiade Archipelago), and Australia (on some islands in the Torres Strait, the northern Cape York Peninsula south including the Atherton Tableland and the eastern foothills of the Great Dividing Range).
M. boeleni

(Brongersma, 1953) 0 Boelen’s python Indonesia (Western New Guinea in the Wissel Lakes region) and Papua New Guinea (the provinces of Eastern Highlands, Central and Morobe, and Goodenough Island).
M. bredli

(Gow, 1981) 0 Bredl’s python; Centralian python Australia, in the mountains of southern Northern Territory
M. carinata (L.A. Smith, 1981) 0 Rough scaled python Australia, northwestern Western Australia in the lower sections of the Mitchell and Hunter rivers, just inland from the coast.
M. oenpelliensis (Gow, 1977) 0 Oenpelli python Australia, Northern Territory, in the sandstone outcrops of western Arnhem Land.
M. spilotaT

LC[6]
LR/nt[7]		 (Lacépède, 1804) 6 Carpet python; Diamond python Indonesia (southern Western New Guinea in Merauke Regency), Papua New Guinea (southern Western Province, the Port Moresby area of Central Province and on Yule Island) and Australia (excluding much of the center and north west of the country).
M. viridis LC[8] (Schlegel, 1872) 1 Green tree python Indonesia (Misool, Salawati, Aru Islands, Schouten Islands, most of Western New Guinea), Papua New Guinea (including nearby islands from sea level to 1,800 m elevation, Normanby Island and the d'Entrecasteaux Islands) and Australia (Queensland along the east coast of the Cape York Peninsula).
M. riversleighensis† (Scanlon, 2001 ) 0 n/a Extinct, remains found in Queensland, Australia.

*) Not including the nominate subspecies.
T) Type species.[1]

See also

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 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. ↑ Scanlon, J.D. (2001). "Montypythonoides revisited: the Miocene snake Morelia riversleighensis (Smith and Plane, 1985) and the question of pythonine origins". In Hand, S.J.; Laurie, J.R. Riversleigh Symposium 1998: Proceedings of a Research Symposium on Fossils from Riversleigh and Murgon, Queensland, held at the University of New South Wales, December, 1998. Memoirs of the Association of Australasian Palaeontologists 25. pp. 1–35.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 "Morelia". Integrated Taxonomic Information System. Retrieved 10 September 2007.
  4. ↑ International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources. "IUCN Red List of Threatened Species".
  5. ↑ Auliya, M. (2010). "Morelia amethistina". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Version 2013.2. International Union for Conservation of Nature. Retrieved 28 March 2014.
  6. ↑ Shine R.A. & Allison, A. (2010). "Morelia spilota". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Version 2013.2. International Union for Conservation of Nature. Retrieved 28 March 2014.
  7. ↑ Australasian Reptile & Amphibian Specialist Group (1996). "Morelia spilota ssp. imbricata". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Version 2013.2. International Union for Conservation of Nature. Retrieved 28 March 2014.
  8. ↑ Auliya, M., Shine R.A. & Allison, A. (2010). "Morelia viridis". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Version 2013.2. International Union for Conservation of Nature. Retrieved 28 March 2014.

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