Morelia (snake)
| Morelia | |
|---|---|
| |
| Morelia spilota | |
Scientific classification 
| |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Reptilia |
| Order: | Squamata |
| Suborder: | Serpentes |
| Family: | Pythonidae |
| Subfamily: | Pythoninae |
| Genus: | Morelia J. E. Gray, 1842 |
| Synonyms | |
Morelia is a genus of large snakes in the family Pythonidae found in Indonesia, New Guinea, and throughout Australia. Currently, up to eight species are recognized.[3]
In general, these snakes are arboreal to semiarboreal, spending much of their lives in the forest canopy. Although exceptions occur, most attain adult lengths of 2–3 m (6.6–9.8 ft).
Geographic range
Species are found from Indonesia in the Maluku Islands, east through New Guinea, including the Bismarck Archipelago and in Australia.[1]
Species
Eight species are recognized:[4]
| Species[3] | IUCN Status[5] | Taxon author[3] | Subsp.*[3] | Common name | Geographic range[1] |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| M. amethistina
|
LC[6] | (Schneider, 1801) | 5 | Amethystine python; scrub python | Tanimbar: on the island of Tanimbar, and surrounding islands in the Indonesia/New Guinea Archipeligo
Moluccan: on the island of Maluku (or Molucca), and surrounding islands in the Indonesia/New Guinea Archipeligo Halmahera: on the island of Halmahera, and surrounding islands in the Indonesia/New Guinea Archipeligo New Guinea: most of Papua New Guinea, including the Bismarck Archipelago, and surrounding islands in the New Guinea Archipeligo Australian: 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. azurea | (Meyer, 1874) | 3 | Green tree python, southern green python | Papua New Guinea (Biak, Numfor and Supiori in the Schouten Islands group of Cenderawasih Bay) | |
| 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[7] LR/nt[8] |
(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[9] | (Schlegel, 1872) | 1 | Green tree python | Indo/Papuan: 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)
Australian: Queensland along the east coast of the Cape York Peninsula |
| M. riversleighensis† | (Smith and Plane, 1985) | 0 | n/a | Extinct, remains found in Queensland, Australia |
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*) Not including the nominate subspecies
T) Type species.[1]
References
- ^ a b c d 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).
- ^ 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. (eds.). 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.
- ^ a b c d "Morelia". Integrated Taxonomic Information System. Retrieved 10 September 2007.
- ^ Morelia at the Reptarium.cz Reptile Database. Accessed 1 January 2020.
- ^ International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources. "IUCN Red List of Threatened Species".
- ^ Auliya, M. (2010). "Morelia amethistina". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2010. Retrieved 28 March 2014.
{{cite journal}}: Invalid|ref=harv(help) - ^ "Morelia spilota". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2010. 2010. Retrieved 28 March 2014.
{{cite journal}}: Invalid|ref=harv(help); Unknown parameter|authors=ignored (help) - ^ Australasian Reptile & Amphibian Specialist Group (1996). "Morelia spilota ssp. imbricata". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 1996. Retrieved 28 March 2014.
{{cite journal}}: Invalid|ref=harv(help) - ^ Auliya, M.; Shine R.A.; Allison, A. (2010). "Morelia viridis". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2010: e.T177524A7449431. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2010-4.RLTS.T177524A7449431.en. Retrieved 15 January 2018.
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External links
Media related to Morelia (genus) at Wikimedia Commons
Data related to Morelia at Wikispecies