Demansia papuensis (MACLEAY, 1877)

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Higher Taxa	Elapidae (Hydrophiinae), Colubroidea, Caenophidia, Alethinophidia, Serpentes, Squamata (snakes)
Subspecies
Common Names	E: Papuan whip snake
Synonym	Diemenia papuensis MACLEAY 1877: 40 Diemenia psammophis BOULENGER 1896 Demansia olivacea papuensis Demansia papuensis — COGGER 1983: 221 Demansia papuensis melaena STORR 1978 Demansia papuensis — SHEA 1998 Demansia papuensis — COGGER 2000: 641 Demansia papuensis — SHEA & SCANLON 2007 Demansia papuensis — WALLACH et al. 2014: 214 Demansia papuensis — MIRTSCHIN et al. 2017
Distribution	Australia (Northern Territory, Queensland, Western Australia), S Papua New Guinea, Indonesia (Irian Jaya) ? [see comment]. papuensis: New Guinea melaena: Australia (Kimberley region , NE Queensland); Type locality: Katherine, 14° 28' S, 132° 16' E, N. T. Type locality: Papua New Guinea (probably Hall Sound).
Reproduction	oviparous
Types	Holotype: AMS (AM) R31919 Holotype: WAM R47590 [melaena]
Diagnosis	Additional details, e.g. a detailed description or comparisons (353 characters), are available for collaborators and contributors. Please contact us for details.
Comment	Distribution: D. papuensis is now believed to be confined to Australia, despite its name, and D. atra in PNG is now known as D. vestigata (Shea 1998). Distribution of subspecies after COGGER 2000. Venomous! Bits of this species are not lethal but can be very painful and long-lasting (weeks to months) (Don Manogadon, pers. comm., 5 May 2023).
Etymology	Named after its distribution in Papua New Guinea.
References	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 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. Escoriza Boj, D. 2005. Australia. Reptiles and Amphibians, Part 2: Desert and tropical savanna. Reptilia (GB) (41): 52-57 - get paper here Macleay, W. 1877. The ophidians of the Chevert Expedition. Proc. Linn. Soc. New South Wales 2: 33-41 (given as 1878 on title page but published in 1877) - get paper here Mirtschin, P., Rasmussen, A.R. & Weinstein, S.A. 2017. Australia’s Dangerous snakes. CSIRO Publishing, 424 pp. - get paper here O’Shea,M. 1996. A Guide to the Snakes of Papua New Guinea. Independent Publishing, Port Moresby, xii + 239 pp. - get paper here Parkin, T., Jolly, C. J., de Laive, A., & von Takach, B. 2020. Snakes on an urban plain: Temporal patterns of snake activity and human–snake conflict in Darwin, Australia. Austral Ecology - get paper here Shea, G M 1998. Geographic variation in scalation and size of the black whip snakes (Squamata: Elapidae: Demansia vestigiata complex): evidence for two broadly sympatric species. The Beagle 14: 41-61 Shea, G.M. & Scanlon 2007. Revision of the small tropical whipsnakes previously referred to Demansia olivacea (Gray, 1842) and Demansia torquata (Guenther, 1862) (Squamata: Elapidae). Rec. Austral. Mus. 59 (2-3): 117-142 - get paper here Somaweera, R. 2009. Snakes of Darwin. Poster, University of Sydney Storr G M 1978. Whip snakes (Demansia, Elapidae) of Western Australia. Rec. West. Aust. Mus. 6 (3): 287-301 - 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.
External links	IUCN Red List National Center for Biotechnology Information http://www.arod.com.au/arod/reptilia/Squamata/Elapidae/Demansia/papuensis Google images

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