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Aspidites ramsayi (MACLEAY, 1882)

IUCN Red List - Aspidites ramsayi - Endangered, EN
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Higher TaxaPythonidae, Henophidia, Pythonoidea, Alethinophidia, Serpentes, Squamata (snakes)
Subspecies 
Common NamesE: Woma Python
G: Woma-Python, Ramsays Python 
SynonymAspidiotes ramsayi MACLEAY 1882: 813
Aspidites ramsayi — BOULENGER 1893: 92
Aspidites melanocephalus ramsayi
Aspidites collaris LONGMAN 1913: 40
Aspidites ramsayi — SMITH 1981: 215
Aspidites ramsayi — KLUGE 1993
Aspidites ramsayi — WALLS 1995
Aspidites ramsayi — MCDIARMID, CAMPBELL & TOURÉ 1999: 165
Aspidites ramsayi — COGGER 2000: 602
Aspidites ramsayi panoptes HOSER 2000
Aspidites ramsayi richardjonesi HOSER 2000
Aspidites ramsayi neildavieii HOSER 2009
Aspidites ramsayi — SCHLEIP & O’SHEA 2010
Aspidites ramsayi — WALLACH et al. 2014: 57
Aspidites ramsayi — EIPPER & EIPPER 2024: 38 
DistributionAustralia (Central Australia: New South Wales, Northern Territory, Queensland, South Australia, Victoria, Western Australia)

Type locality: Fort Bourke, NSW, Australia  
Reproductionoviparous 
TypesHolotype: lost (previously said to be in MMUS = Macleay Museum, fide STIMSON 1969, Cogger et al 1983; not in AMS fide Shea 2012)
Holotype: WAM 34070 [richardjonesi, neildavieii]
Holotype: WAM R43459 [panoptes] 
DiagnosisDiagnosis: Distinguished from A. melanocephalus by absence of dark hood. (Smith 1981)


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CommentSynonymy: Hoser’s subspecies should be treated as questionable as they are not well diagnosed, partly only based on distribution. Hoser’s subspecies are often named after friends, relatives or other popular figures. Hoser, 2009 also designated the same type for neildavieii as for A.r.richardjonesi; Type locality: near Port Hedland, Western Australia.). A. r. panoptes is said to be from the Type locality of Burracoppin, Western Australia. The Type locality of richardjonesii is “near Port Hedland, Western Australia”. KAISER et al. rejected all names coined by HOSER in or after 2000.

Distribution appears to be the only distinguishing feature for distinguishing between Aspidites ramsayi panoptes and A.r. richardjonesii (wÜSTER et al. 2001). 
References
  • Allen, W. L., R. Baddeley, N. E. Scott-Samuel, and I. C. Cuthill. 2013. The evolution and function of pattern diversity in snakes. Behav. Ecol. 24:1237– 1250
  • Beolens, Bo; Michael Watkins, and Michael Grayson 2011. The Eponym Dictionary of Reptiles. Johns Hopkins University Press, Baltimore, USA - get paper here
  • Biswas, A., Ghosh, A., & Agashe, M. 2025. In ‘hot’pursuit: exploring the evolutionary ecology of labial pits in boas and pythons. Proceedings B, 292(2045), 20250199 - get paper here
  • Boulenger, G.A. 1893. Catalogue of the snakes in the British Museum (Nat. Hist.) I. London (Taylor & Francis), 448 pp. - get paper here
  • Bruton MJ 2013. Arboreality, excavation, and active foraging: novel observations of radiotracked woma pythons Aspidites ramsayi. Memoirs of the Queensland Museum – Nature 56, 313-329 - get paper here
  • Bruton MJ, CA McAlpine, AG Smith, CE Franklin 2014. The importance of underground shelter resources for reptiles in dryland landscapes: a woma python case study. Austral Ecology 39, 819-829. - 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.
  • Eipper T & Eipper S 2024. SNAKES OF AUSTRALIA. Princeton University Press, Princeton and Oxford, 368 pp. - get paper here
  • Escoriza Boj, D. 2005. Australia. Reptiles and Amphibians, Part 2: Desert and tropical savanna. Reptilia (GB) (41): 52-57 - get paper here
  • Esquerré, D & J S Keogh. 2016. Parallel selective pressures drive convergent diversification of phenotypes in pythons and boas. Ecology Letters, 19(7): 800-809 - get paper here
  • Franz, V. 2003. Pythons of the World. Reptilia (GB) (27): 16-23 - get paper here
  • Hoser, R. 2009. Creationism and contrived science: a review of recent python systematics papers and the resolution of issues of taxonomy and nomenclature. Australasian J. Herpetol. 2: 1-34 - get paper here
  • Hoser, Raymond 2000. A Revision of the Australasian pythons. Ophidia Review 1: 7-27
  • Jolly, C., Schembri, B., & Macdonald, S. 2023. Field Guide to the Reptiles of the Northern Territory. CSIRO Publishing, Melbourne - get paper here
  • Kaiser, H.; Crother, B.I.; Kelly, C.M.R.; Luiselli, L.; O’Shea, M.; Ota, H.; Passos, P.; Schleip, W.D. & Wüster, W. 2013. Best Practices: In the 21st Century, Taxonomic Decisions in Herpetology are Acceptable Only When Supported by a Body of Evidence and Published via Peer-Review. Herpetological Review 44 (1): 8-23
  • Kluge, Arnold G. 1993. Aspidites and the phylogeny of Pythonine snakes. Rec. Austral. Mus. (Supplement 19): 1-77 - get paper here
  • Kunz, Kriton 2018. Pythons: eine Erfolgsgeschichte in Natur und Terrarium. Terraria-Elaphe 2018 (4): 14-19 - get paper here
  • Longman, H.A. 1913. Herpetological Notes. Part I. Systematic. Memoirs of the Queensland Museum Brisbane, 2: 39-45 - get paper here
  • Macleay, W. 1882. Description of two new species of snakes. Proc. Linn. Soc. New South Wales 6: 811-813 - get paper here
  • Maryan, B. 2002. Status of the Woma, Aspidites ramsayi, in south-west Western Australia. Western Australian Naturalist 23: 167-172 - get paper here
  • Maryan, B., Gaikhorst, G., & Parkhurst, B. 2024. The terrestrial herpetofauna of the Zuytdorp coast and hinterland of Western Australia: Exceptional richness in a global biodiversity hotspot. Western Australian Naturalist, 33, 3
  • McDiarmid, R.W.; Campbell, J.A. & Touré,T.A. 1999. Snake species of the world. Vol. 1. [type catalogue] Herpetologists’ League, 511 pp.
  • Parker, M.R. and Fitzgerald, L.A. 2024. Using life history to predict outcomes of conservation translocations of herpetofauna. Anim. Conserv. - get paper here
  • Schleip, Wulf D & O’Shea, M. 2010. Annotated checklist of the recent and extinct pythons (Serpentes, Pythonidae), with notes on nomenclature, taxonomy, and distribution. ZooKeys 66 (2010) : 29-79 - get paper here
  • Schmidt, Dieter 2010. Vermehrung und Zucht von Riesenschlangen. Draco 11 (44): 4-17 - get paper here
  • Swan, G.; Sadlier, R.; Shea, G. 2017. A field guide to reptiles of New South Wales. Reed New Holland, 328 pp.
  • Uhlhaas, Manuel & Philipp Pohlscheid 2010. Haltung und Nachzucht des Woma, Aspidites ramsayi. Draco 11 (44): 73-77 - get paper here
  • Waite, Edgar R. 1894. Re-description of Aspidites ramsayi. Proc. Linn. Soc. New South Wales (2) 9: 715-717
  • 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.
  • Walls, J.G. 1995. The living pythons - A complete guide to the pythons of the world. TFH Publications, 256 pp.
  • Wilson, S. & Swan, G. 2010. A complete guide to reptiles of Australia, 3rd ed. Chatswood: New Holland, 558 pp.
  • Winchell, S. 2009. Pythons Australiens. Reptilia (Münster) 14 (79): 16-27 - get paper here
  • Wouwenberg, Eric 2011. Breeding and taking care of Aspidites ramsayi, the Woma Python. Litteratura Serpentium 31 (4): 189-198 - get paper here
  • Wüster, W., B. Bush, J. S. Keogh, M. O’Shea, and R. Shine 2001. Taxonomic contributions in the "amateur" literature: comments on recent descriptions of new genera and species by Raymond Hoser. Litteratura Serpentium 21 (3): 86-91 - get paper here
 
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