Demansia olivacea (GRAY, 1842)

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Higher Taxa	Elapidae (Hydrophiinae), Colubroidea, Caenophidia, Alethinophidia, Serpentes, Squamata (snakes)
Subspecies
Common Names	E: Olive Whipsnake, Marble-headed Whip Snake
Synonym	Lycodon olivaceus GRAY 1842: 54 Elapocephalus ornaticeps MACLEAY 1878: 221 Diemenia olivacea — DE ROOIJ 1917: 267 Demansia ornaticeps — KINGHORN 1929 Diemenia ornaticeps BOULENGER 1896 Demansia olivacea — COGGER 1983: 221 Demansia olivacea — WELCH 1994: 53 Demansia olivacea — COGGER 2000: 640 Demansia olivacea — SHEA & SCANLON 2007 Demansia olivacea — WALLACH et al. 2014: 213
Distribution	Australia (N Western Australia: Kimberleys through the Northern Territory to W Queensland) Type locality: Port Essington, N. T.
Reproduction	oviparous
Types	Syntypes: lost, previously up to three specimens in the series BMNH 41.10.13.4–45 (see Cogger & Lindner 1974, Shea & Scanlon 2007). Holotype: AM R31918, from Port Darwin, N. T. [Elapocephalus ornaticeps] Holotype: AM R31921, from "vicinity of King's Sound", W. A. [Diemenia angusticeps]
Diagnosis	Diagnosis: A small to medium-sized Demansia (only two records greater than 557 mm) with very reduced or absent dark transrostral streak, lips and snout greyish, finely variegated, no pale preocular bar or dark or pale collars on nape, but a median series of dark spots present on anterior ventrals. Additional details (425 characters) are available for collaborators and contributors. Please contact us for details.
Comment	Demansia olivacea rufescens STORR 1978 and Demansia olivacea calodera STORR 1978 have been elevated to species status. Venomous!
Etymology	Gray did not explicitly provide the etymology of the species’ name, but it is presumably from the Latin olivaceus (olive-coloured), referring to the “dark olive-green” coloration mentioned in the description. The etymology of ornaticeps is presumably from the Latin ornatus (adorned, decorated) and -ceps (head), alluding to the characteristic marbled head of this taxon.
References	Boulenger, G.A. 1896. Catalogue of the snakes in the British Museum, Vol. 3. London (Taylor & Francis), xiv + 727 pp. - 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. & Lindner, D. A. 1974. Frogs and reptiles. In: Fauna survey of the Port Essington District, Cobourg Peninsula, Northern Territory of Australia. Frith, H. J. & Calaby, J. H. (eds. ). CSIRO Div. Wildl. Res. Tech. Pap. 28: 63-107 Cogger, H.G. 2000. Reptiles and Amphibians of Australia, 6th ed. Ralph Curtis Publishing, Sanibel Island, 808 pp. de Rooij, N. DE 1917. The Reptiles of the Indo-Australian Archipelago. Il. Ophidia. Leiden (E. J. Brill), xiv + 334 S. - get paper here Gray, J. E. 1842. Description of some hitherto unrecorded species of Australian reptiles and batrachians. Zoological Miscellany 2: 51—57 (London: Treuttel, Würtz & Co) - get paper here Kinghorn, J. Roy 1929. Herpetological notes 1. Rec. Austral. Mus. 17 (2): 76-84 - get paper here Macleay, W. 1878. Notes on a collection of snakes from Port Darwin. Proc. Linn. Soc. New South Wales 2: 219-222 - get paper here McDowell, Samuel B.;Cogger, Harold G. 1967. Aspidomorphus, a genus of New Guinea snakes of the family Elapidae, with notes on related genera. Journal of Zoology, London 151: 497-543 - 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. & 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 Shine, R. 1980. Ecology of eastern Australian whipsnakes of the genus Demansia. Journal of Herpetology 14 (4): 381-389 - 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 http://www.arod.com.au/arod/reptilia/Squamata/Elapidae/Demansia/olivacea https://www.facebook.com/groups/stshc/posts/275334984691107/ Google images

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