Morelia azurea (MEYER, 1874)
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Morelia azurea
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| Higher Taxa | Pythonidae, Henophidia, Pythonoidea, Alethinophidia, Serpentes, Squamata (snakes) |
| Subspecies | Morelia azurea azurea (MEYER 1874) Morelia azurea pulcher (SAUVAGE 1878) Morelia azurea utaraensis NATUSCH et al. 2019 |
| Common Names | E: Northern green python G: Grüner Baumpython |
| Synonym | Chondropython azureus MEYER 1874: 134 Chondropython pulcher SAUVAGE 1878: 37 Chondropython viridis — BOULENGER 1893: 90 Morelia azurea — SCHLEIP & O’SHEA 2010: 44 Morelia azurea — WALLACH et al. 2014: 452 Morelia azurea — BARKER et al. 2015 Morelia azurea — NATUSCH et al. 2019 Morelia azurea pulcher (SAUVAGE 1878) Python viridis — SCHLEGEL 1872 Chondropython azureus MEYER 1874: 134 Chondropython pulcher SAUVAGE 1878: 37 Chondropython viridis — BOULENGER 1893: 90 Morelia azurea — SCHLEIP & O’SHEA 2010: 44 Morelia azurea utaraensis NATUSCH et al. 2019 Python viridis — SCHLEGEL 1872 Chondropython azureus MEYER 1874: 134 Chondropython pulcher SAUVAGE 1878: 37 Chondropython viridis — BOULENGER 1893: 90 Morelia azurea — SCHLEIP & O’SHEA 2010: 44 |
| Distribution | Papua New Guinea (Biak [formerly Mysore], Numfor and Supiori in the Schouten Islands group of Cenderawasih [formerly Geelvink] Bay Type locality: “Kordo auf Mysore” [= Korido on Biak Island] pulcher: Indonesia (Vogelkop Peninsula of West Papua); Type locality: Mansinam Island near Manokwari, Indonesia. utaraensis: E Papua New Guinea (from Lae and the Huon Peninsula, west through northern Papua New Guinea), , Indonesia (Papua), to the island of Mios Num (west of Yapen) in the west. Type locality: ‘Hollandia’ (present day Jayapura) in Papua, Indonesia. |
| Reproduction | oviparous. |
| Types | Neotype: UTA R-61633, designated by Barker et al. 2015; former syntypes: ZMB 8832, MTD (= MTKD) 638, MTD (= MTKD) 639, all lost. Lectotype: MNHN-RA 5088 (2 specimens: 5088 and 5088A); paralectotypes: MNHN-RA 50875089, four specimens collected by M. Laglaize; designated by Natusch et al. 2019 [pulcher] Holotype: AMNH 62020; adult female collected by W.B. Richardson, on 9 July 1938 [utaraensis] |
| Diagnosis | Diagnosis: Morelia viridis is easily distinguished from all subspecies of M. azurea by the following characters: presence of a single juvenile morph (yellow vs. yellow or red in M. azurea); presence of a tightly knitted row of white vertebral scales along the vertebral ridge, or white ‘rosettes’ along the vertebral ridge in the Aru Islands population; and a dark shade of green coloration along the vertebral ridge, as opposed to uniform green in M. azurea (Table 1, Supplementary Material II). Most populations of M. viridis also possess short, stubby tails and con- siderably lower subcaudal scale counts vs. long, tapering tails and high subcaudal scale counts in M. azurea (Table 1, Supplementary Material II). The exceptions are populations from Milne Bay and the north coast of Oro and Morobe Provinces to near Lae, Papua New Guinea, which typically have long, tapering tails similar to M. azurea. Morelia viridis further differs from M. a. azurea and M. a. utaraensis in that juveniles possess a single iris band running horizontally through the eye (as opposed to a triple iris band; Table 1; Supplementary Material II). It further differs from M. a. utaraensis in that juveniles have a darkened tail tip and a broken pattern following the vertebral ridge vs. a light- colored tail and continuous pattern. Morelia viridis further differs from M. a. azurea by undergoing a relatively rapid color change to become uniform green in adulthood vs. delayed colour change with variable coloration). [from Natusch et al. 2019] Additional details (961 characters) are available for collaborators and contributors. Please contact us for details. |
| Comment | See also M. viridis. Distribution: see Natusch et al. 2019: Fig 1 for maps of the subspecies and M. viridis. M. azureus was resurrected from the synonymy of M. viridis by Hoser (2009). Rawlings and Donnellan (2003) also revealed the existence of two populations that are genetically distinct, one from north of the central cordillera (corresponding to azurea), the other from the south, including the Aru Island and Australian populations. Natusch et al. 2019 studied the relationship of various populations. Type species: Chondropython azureus MEYER 1874: 134 is the type species of the genus Chondropython MEYER 1874. Most older authors considered azurea as a synonym of viridis. |
| Etymology | Apparently named after the azur color which is technically between blue and cyan (green-blue). The name utaraensis is derived from the Indonesian language word for “north”. Morelia azurea utaraensis occurs in northern New Guinea, with its name meaning “from the north”. |
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