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Notechis scutatus (PETERS, 1861)

IUCN Red List - Notechis scutatus - Least Concern, LC
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Higher TaxaElapidae (Hydrophiinae), Colubroidea, Caenophidia, Alethinophidia, Serpentes, Squamata (snakes)
SubspeciesNotechis scutatus scutatus (PETERS 1861)
Notechis scutatus occidentalis GLAUERT 1948 
Common NamesE: Mainland Tiger Snake
scutatus: Eastern Tiger Snake
occidentalis: Western Tiger Snake
G: Östliche Tigerotter
E: ater: Black Tiger Snake, Krefft's Tiger Snake
humphreysi: Tasmanian Tiger Snake
niger: Peninsular Tiger Snake
serventyi: Chappell Island Tiger Snake
G: Schwarze Tigerotter 
SynonymNaja (Hamadryas) scutata PETERS 1861: 690
Alecto fasciolata JAN 1863: 117 (nom. nud. ?)
Hoplocephalus ater KREFFT 1866: 370
Alecto fasciolata JAN & SORDELLI 1873
Hoplocephalus fuscus STEINDACHNER 1867: 82
Notechis scutatus — BOULENGER 1896
Notechis scutatus niger KINGHORN 1921: 145
Notechis scutatus — KINGHORN 1924
Notechis scutatus ater — GLAUERT 1948
Notechis ater humphreysi WORRELL 1963
Notechis ater serventyi WORRELL 1963
Notechis ater — COGGER 1983: 229
Notechis scutatus — COGGER 1983: 229
Notechis scutatus — WELCH 1994: 93
Notechis ater — WELCH 1994: 93
Notechis ater — COGGER 2000: 659
Notechis scutatus — COGGER 2000: 660
Notechis scutatus — WILSON & SWAN 2010
Notechis scutatus — WALLACH et al. 2014: 488
Notechis scutatus scutatus — MIRTSCHIN et al. 2017
Notechis scutatus humphreysi — MIRTSCHIN et al. 2017
Notechis scutatus serventyi — MIRTSCHIN et al. 2017
Notechis scutatus ater — MIRTSCHIN et al. 2017
Notechis scutatus niger — MIRTSCHIN et al. 2017

Notechis scutatus occidentalis GLAUERT 1948
Notechis scutatus occidentalis GLAUERT 1948
Notechis ater occidentalis — COGGER 2000: 659
Notechis scutatus occidentalis — MIRTSCHIN et al. 2017
Notechis scutatus occidentalis — SHEA 2021 
DistributionAustralia (New South Wales, Queensland, South Australia, Victoria, Western Australia, Tasmania)

Type locality: “Java” (in error); neotype locality: "The Brothers", 10km NE of Benambra, Victoria.

occidentalis: SW Western Australia. Type locality: not given in original description.

Synonyms:

ater: Australia (Western Australia, South Australia,Tasmania);Flinders Ranges; Type locality: Flinders Range, S. A. (original register entry cites Port Lincoln, S. A. as the type locality).

niger: Kangaroo Island and other off-shore islands of South Australia.

humphreysi: King and nearby islands, Bass Strait.  
ReproductionViviparous 
TypesNeotype: NMV D47618, "The Brothers", 10km NE of Benambra, Victoria, collected P.A. Rawlinson, A.J. Coventry & P.A. Mather, 27.i.1976. Original holotype: ZMB 2815, presumed lost.
Syntypes: MSNM (?), unlocated, from Australia [Alecto fasciolata JAN 1863].
Syntypes: unlocated, from Australia [Hoplocephalus fuscus].
Holotype: WAM R9430, from unspecified locality, but collector from Bassendean, W. A. [occidentalis]
Holotype: AM 6577 [ater]
Holotype: AM R7124, from Deep Creek, 20 mi from Kingscote, Kangaroo Is., S. A. [niger].
Holotype: AM R17955, from New Year Is. near King Is., Bass Strait, Tasmania [humphreysi].
Holotype: AM R17953, from Chappell Is., Furneaux Group, Bass Strait, Tasmania [serventyi]. 
DiagnosisDiagnosis (genus): The genus Notechis may be distinguished by the following combination of characters: a large, squarish frontal shield, not, or scarcely, longer than broad; lower temporal large and about as long as or longer than the frontal; scales smooth, in 17-21 rows at mid-body; suboculars absent; internasals present; ventrals more than 140; anal single; subcaudals single; and four or five solid maxillary teeth following the fang. (Cogger 2014) 
CommentSynonymy: KEOGH et al. (2005) synonymized N. ater with N. scutatus. Previously, Notechis scutatus niger has been renamed Notechis ater niger. Synonymy partly after Rawlinson 1991.

Diet: Adult mainland snakes feed on frogs and mice, whereas adult island snakes mostly take silver-gull chicks.

Venomous!

Type species: Naja scutata PETERS 1861: 690 is the type species of the genus Notechis BOULENGER 1896.

Diagnosis (genus): Cogger 1986 ? (fide Hutchinson 1990, who doesn’t cite Cogger 1986, maybe means Cogger in Grigg 1985). 
EtymologyEtymology (ater): Named after its color, Latin “ater, atra, atrum” = dark or black. 
References
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