Denisonia maculata (STEINDACHNER, 1867)

Find more photos by Google images search:

Higher Taxa	Elapidae (Hydrophiinae), Colubroidea, Caenophidia, Alethinophidia, Serpentes, Squamata (snakes)
Subspecies
Common Names	E: Ornamental Snake
Synonym	Hoplocephalus maculatus STEINDACHNER 1867: 81 Denisonia ornata KREFFT 1869: 82 Hoplocephalus Muelleri FISCHER 1885: 109 Denisonia maculata — COGGER 1983: 223 Denisonia maculata — WELCH 1994: 55 Denisonia maculata — COGGER 2000: 644 Denisonia maculata — WILSON & SWAN 2010 Denisonia maculata — WALLACH et al. 2014: 226
Distribution	Australia (Queensland) Type locality: N. S. W., subsequent restriction to Rockhampton, Qld. proposed by Mackay (1956).
Reproduction	ovovivparous
Types	Syntypes: NMW = NHMW, unnumbered (2 specimens) listed by Cogger et al. (1983), but Tiedemann & Häupl (1980) and Tiedemann et al. (1994) did not list any such specimens in the NMW collection. Consequently, a lectotype designation by Wells & Wellington (1985) of the larger of the two specimens is invalid. Holotype: AM 6697, from near Rockhampton, Qld. [Denisonia ornata] Holotype: SMNS 2377 (=10821), from Qld. [Hoplocephalus muelleri]
Diagnosis	Diagnosis (genus): As in Cogger (in Griggs 1985) with the following additions: Pupil vertically elliptic, iris of eye pale. Distinguished from some superficially similar species of Suta by venom gland musculature of the Oxyuranus type (versus the Pseudechis type), retention of the deeply forked hemipenis (simple in Suta), diploid number of 34 with pair 5 sex chromosomes (versus 30 with pair 4 sex chromosomes) and upper labials strongly barred with white and dark brown. (see Hutchinson 1990: 400)
Comment	Synonymy after COGGER 1983. Venomous! Type species: Hoplocephalus maculatus STEINDACHNER 1867: 81 is the type species of the genus Denisonia KREFFT 1869.
Etymology	Presumably named after the Latin maculatus (spotted). (G. Shea, pers. comm., 9 Feb 2024)
References	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. Covacevich J.A., Couper, P.J., McDonald, K.R. 1998. Reptile diversity at risk in the Brigalow Belt, Queensland. Memoirs of the Queensland Museum 42 (2): 475-486 - get paper here Fischer, J. G. 1885. Ichthyologische und herpetologische Bemerkungen. V. Herpetologische Bemerkungen. Jahrb. Hamburg. Wiss. Anst. 2: 82-121 - get paper here Gemel, R.; G. Gassner & S. Schweiger 2019. Katalog der Typen der Herpetologischen Sammlung des Naturhistorischen Museums Wien – 2018. Ann. Naturhist. Mus. Wien, B 121: 33–248 Grigg, G., Shine, R., & Ehmann, H., eds. 1985. Biology of Australasian frogs and reptiles. Surrey Beatty & Sons, Norton, NSW, & The Roy. Zool. Soc. of New South Wales, Sydney 527 pp. Hutchinson M N 1990. The generic classification of the Australian terrestrial elapid snakes. Memoirs of the Queensland Museum 29 (3): 397-405 - get paper here Krefft, G. 1869. The Snakes of Australia; an Illustrated and Descriptive Catalogue of All the Known Species. Sydney, Govt. Printer xxv + 100 pp. - get paper here Mackay, R. D. 1956. The status of Denisonia maculata Steindachner and related species. (Ophidia: Elapidae). Proc. R. Zool. Soc. N. S. W 1954-55: 29-33 ROYAL, NICHOLAS; KATELYN GIBSON & JAMES GARNHAM. 2022. DENISONIA MACULATA (Ornamental Snake). ARACHNID BURROWS AS HABITAT. Herpetological Review 53 (1): 146–147. Schlüter, A. & Hallermann, J. 1997. The Type Specimens in the Herpetological Collection of the Staatliches Museum für Naturkunde in Stuttgart. Stuttgarter Beitr. Naturk. Ser. A (553): 1-15 - get paper here Steindachner, F. 1867. In: Reise der Österreichischen Fregatte Novara um die Erde in den Jahren 1857, 1858,1859 unter den Befehlen des Commodore B. von Wüllerstorf-Urbair (Zoologie), Vol. 1, part 3 (Reptilien p.1-98). K. Gerold's Sohn/Kaiserlich-Königl. Hof- und Staatsdruckerei, Wien [1869 on title page] - 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.amonline.net.au/herpetology/research/pdf/elapidae.pdf http://zoobank.org/urn:lsid:zoobank.org:pub:823DA8CA-9F68-444A-8460… http://www.kingsnake.com/oz/snakes/elapids/dmaculata.htm http://www.arod.com.au/arod/reptilia/Squamata/Elapidae/Denisonia/maculata http://www.seh-herpetology.org/images/atlas/pdf/squamata/denmac.pdf http://www.dpiwe.tas.gov.au/inter.nsf/WebPages/LJEM-5UCTWQ?open Google images

Is it interesting? Share with others:

As link to this species use URL address:

https://reptile-database.reptarium.cz/species?genus=Denisonia&species=maculata

without field 'search_param'. Field 'search_param' is used for browsing search result.

Please submit feedback about this entry to the curator