Australian groundsnake

description

Synonyms. Lycodon darnleyensis Macleay, 1877; Herbertophis plumbeus Macleay, 1884. Original name. Zamenophis australis Günther, 1872: 21. The genus name references Zamenis, a genus of colubrid snakes from Europe and the Middle East, which Günther considered to possess the same suite of characters as his new form. Given the well-defined distribution of Zamenis, Günther (1872) decided to place his new Australian species into a separate genus, using “ the entire anal shield ” as the single defining characteristic. The genus name is a composite noun, including the genus name Zamenis and the Greek ophis, meaning “ a snake like Zamenis. The species epithet could reflect the collecting locality, Australia, or it may have been used in recognition that this was the species of Stegonotus with the most southerly distribution (australis = Latin, southern). The species description was presented in English.

The taxonomic history of Indo-Papuan groundsnakes, genus Stegonotus Duméril et al., 1854 (Colubridae), with some taxonomic revisions and the designation of a neotype for S. parvus (Meyer, 1874)

discussion

Comments. The species was synonymized with S. cucullatus by Boulenger (1893).

The taxonomic history of Indo-Papuan groundsnakes, genus Stegonotus Duméril et al., 1854 (Colubridae), with some taxonomic revisions and the designation of a neotype for S. parvus (Meyer, 1874)

materials_examined

Holotype. BMNH 1946.1. 14.93, formerly BMNH 68.6. 16.3 (Fig. 14; Table 1), an adult male. Type locality. “ Cape York ” [Queensland, Australia]. This locality could either refer to the Cape York Peninsula, a large cone-shaped landmass that juts northwards from the northeastern side of the Australian continent to give its east coast a characteristic horn pointing towards New Guinea, or to Cape York, which is the name for the tip of the peninsula. This tropical peninsula was connected to New Guinea across the Torres Strait for 40,000 of the last 2 million years (Harris et al. 2008). Collection. In his account, Günther provided a listing of “ the new Species procured and described since June 1868 ” (Günther 1872: 14), which included their provenance. Under the name Zamenophis australis, Günther listed the specimen as having been purchased. Based on information on the original label, the holotype of Z. australis was collected by a “ Mr. Higgins, ” but no further information is provided. Edmund Thomas Higgins (ca. 1816 – 1891) was a London-based dealer in natural history and geological specimens, who traded in Australian wildlife in the 1860 s and visited Australia himself twice (Torrens

The taxonomic history of Indo-Papuan groundsnakes, genus Stegonotus Duméril et al., 1854 (Colubridae), with some taxonomic revisions and the designation of a neotype for S. parvus (Meyer, 1874)