Acanthophis laevis MACLEAY, 1877
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Acanthophis laevis
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| Higher Taxa | Elapidae (Hydrophiinae), Colubroidea, Caenophidia, Alethinophidia, Serpentes, Squamata (snakes) |
| Subspecies | |
| Common Names | |
| Synonym | Acanthophis cerastinus ceramensis GÜNTHER 1863: 58 Acanthophis laevis MACLEAY 1877: 40 Acanthophis antarcticus — BOULENGER 1896 (part.) Acanthophis antarcticus laevis — WORRELL 1961 Acanthophis antarcticus laevis — KLEMMER 1963 Acanthophis barnetti HOSER 1998 Acanthophis crotalusei HOSER 1998 Acanthophis groenveldi HOSER 2002 Acanthophis macgregori HOSER 2002 Acanthophis yuwoni HOSER 2002 Acanthophis laevis — WÜSTER et al. 2004 Acanthophis ceramensis — WALLACH et al. 2014: 4 Acanthophis laevis — WALLACH et al. 2014: 4 Acantophis laevis — PAUL & MENDYK 2021 (in error) |
| Distribution | Papua New Guinea, Indonesia (Irian Jaya, Seram, Tanimbar). Type locality: Katow, Binaturi River, New Guinea; Macleay speculated that it came from “Hall Sound”. ceramensis: Indonesia (Seram, Tanimbar); Type locality: “North Ceram” [= N Seram, Maluku, E Indonesia]. |
| Reproduction | ovovivparous |
| Types | Holotype: AMS (AM) R31932, formerly MAMU R693 Syntypes: BMNH 63.12.4.19, 63.2.28.34-36 [ceramensis] |
| Diagnosis | Original description: “All the head shields and scales of the body quite smooth ; superciliary shields much elevated over the eyes; only one posterior ocular; scales in 21 rows; abdominal shields 113, subcaudals 24 undivided, the others not complete; total length, 17 inches ; tail, 2 1/2 inches ; colour, uniform very pale brown above, beneath yellow ; the lower labials have each a large black spot, the last upper labial and the temporal shield abutting on it are similarly marked, there is also a black semicircular groove in front of tlxe rostral shield ; the abdominal and subcaudal shields are broadly barred with black, interrupted in the middle on the body, but continuous on the tail ; there are also spots on the outer body scale on each side. Most unfortunately the tail in my only specimen is imperfect, but I am satisfied that it is really an Acanthophis, notwithstanding the smooth scales ; in almost every other respect it agrees with the generic characters of Acanthophis. It was procured at Katow.” (Macleay 1877) |
| Comment | Synonymy after W. WÜSTER et al. (2004 and pers. comm., 3 Jan 2017). A. ceramensis is a senior synonym of A. laevis but has hardly been used, so it may need to be suppressed by ICZN (W. WÜSTER, pers. comm., 3 Jan 2017). HOSER’s species may be also synonymous to Acanthophis praelongus. Further studies are required to clarify their relationships. Based on the nomenclature rules, the name crotalusei needs to be emended to crotali or crotalusi (fide WÜSTER et al. 2001). A. crotalusei is closely related to or may be a synonym of Acanthophis laevis Macleay 1878 according to WÜSTER (pers. comm.). KAISER et al. rejected all names coined by HOSER in or after 2000. Venomous! |
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