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Pseudechis butleri SMITH, 1982

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Higher TaxaElapidae (Hydrophiinae), Colubroidea, Caenophidia, Alethinophidia, Serpentes, Squamata (snakes)
Subspecies 
Common NamesE: Spotted Mulga Snake, Butler's Snake 
SynonymPseudechis butleri SMITH 1982: 43
Pseudechis butleri — WELCH 1994: 103
Pseudechis butleri — COGGER 2000: 665
Pseudechis butleri — WILSON & SWAN 2010
Pseudechis butleri — WALLACH et al. 2014: 597
Pseudechis butleri — MIRTSCHIN et al. 2017 
DistributionAustralia (Western Australia)

Type locality: "19 km SE of Yalgoo, Western Australia, in 28˚29'S, 116˚49'E."  
Reproductionoviparous (ovoviviparous) 
TypesHolotype: WAM R22345, a 930 mm (SVL) gravid female (I.C. Carnaby, 15 Oct. 1963). 
DiagnosisDiagnosis: Distinguished from P. australis by its colour, particularly the ventrals which are black-based and bright yellow in butleri (cream with a reddish-brown base in australis). Further distinguished from P. australis (from the same latitudes) by usually having more ventrals (204-216 v. 189-207). Pseudechis porphyriacus of eastern Australia has fewer ventrals (175-210, mean 186.3) and black-based crimson or pink ventrals. (Smith 1982)


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CommentVenomous!

Distribution: see map of localities in MADDOCK et al. 2016. 
EtymologyNamed after Dr. William Henry "Harry" Butler (b. 1930) who trained as a teacher but worked as a consultant and collector (1963), undertaking a major study of Western Australian fauna. He also presented the popular ABC television series In the Wild (1976). 
References
  • Beolens, Bo; Michael Watkins, and Michael Grayson 2011. The Eponym Dictionary of Reptiles. Johns Hopkins University Press, Baltimore, USA - get paper here
  • Brischoux F, Pizzatto L, Shine R. 2010. Insights into the adaptive significance of vertical pupil shape in snakes. J Evol Biol. 23(9): 1878-85. - get paper here
  • Bush, Brian 1984. On a common name for the snake, Pseudechis butleri with a description of a colour variant from the eastern Goldfields. Herpetofauna (Sydney) 16 [1985] (1-2): 43-44
  • Cogger, H. G. 2014. Reptiles and Amphibians of Australia, 7th ed. CSIRO Publishing, xxx + 1033 pp. - get paper here
  • Cogger, H.G. 2000. Reptiles and Amphibians of Australia, 6th ed. Ralph Curtis Publishing, Sanibel Island, 808 pp.
  • Fitzgerald, M. & G.A. Mengden 1987. Captive breeding and oviparity in Pseudechis butleri (Serpentes: Elapidae) Amphibia-Reptilia, 8(2): 165-169. - get paper here
  • Maddock, Simon T.;Aaron Childerstone, Bryan Grieg Fry, David J. Williams , Axel Barlow, Wolfgang Wüster 2016. Multi-locus phylogeny and species delimitation of Australo-Papuan blacksnakes (Pseudechis Wagler, 1830: Elapidae: Serpentes). Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 107: 48-55 [2017, but published online 2016] - get paper here
  • Maryan, Brad 1994. Natural history notes on the spooted mulga snake (Pseudechis butleri). Monitor: Journal of the Victorian Herpetological Society Inc. 6 (1): 4-8
  • Mirtschin, P., Rasmussen, A.R. & Weinstein, S.A. 2017. Australia’s Dangerous snakes. CSIRO Publishing, 424 pp. - get paper here
  • Smith L A 1982. Variation in Pseudechis australis (Serpentes: Elapidae) in Western Australia and description of a new species of Pseudechis. Rec. West. Austr. Mus. 10 (1): 35-45 - get paper here
  • Wallach, Van; Kenneth L. Williams , Jeff Boundy 2014. Snakes of the World: A Catalogue of Living and Extinct Species. [type catalogue] Taylor and Francis, CRC Press, 1237 pp.
  • Wilson, S. & Swan, G. 2010. A complete guide to reptiles of Australia, 3rd ed. Chatswood: New Holland, 558 pp.
 
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