Furina tristis (GÜNTHER, 1858)
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Furina tristis
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| Higher Taxa | Elapidae (Hydrophiinae), Colubroidea, Caenophidia, Alethinophidia, Serpentes, Squamata (snakes) |
| Subspecies | |
| Common Names | E: Brown-headed or grey-naped snake |
| Synonym | Glyphodon tristis GÜNTHER 1858: 211 Brachysoma triste — GÜNTHER 1863 Mainophis robusta MACLEAY 1877: 36 Denisonia fenestrata DE VIS 1905: 50 Glyphodon tristis — BARBOUR 1914 Furina tristis — STORR 1981 Glyphodon tristis — COGGER 1983: 226 Furina tristis — GOLAY et al. 1993: 138 Furina tristis — FRANK & RAMUS 1995: 245 Furina tristis — COGGER 2000: 653 Glyphodon tristis — SCANLON 2003 Glyphodon tristis — GREER 2006 (online) Furina tristis — FERGUSON et al. 2012 Furina tristis — WALLACH et al. 2014: 298 Glyphodon tristis — WILSON & SWAN 2021 Glyphodon tristis — EIPPER & EIPPER 2024: 149 |
| Distribution | Australia (Queensland, Cape York peninsula), Islands of Torres Strait, Papua New Guinea (SE Irian Jaya) Type locality: NE coast of Australia |
| Reproduction | oviparous |
| Types | Holotype: BMNH 1946.1.18.99 (formerly 51.2.20.24), Syntypes: AM R31896-7, from Mawatta, Binaturi River (as Katow), Papua New Guinea [Mainophis robusta]. Syntypes: QM J200, from Qld.; other syntype presumed lost [Denisonia fenestrata] |
| Diagnosis | Diagnosis (Glyphodon): In Furina, the 'nasal is undivided' vs. 'nasal divided' (in Glyphodon). Besides this key character, Glyphodon spp. lack additional derived states shared by Furina with Simoselaps and Neelaps spp.: postorbital bones with kinetic attachment to parietal (involved in mechanism for maxillary erection and retraction; McDowell, 1969a; Scanlon, 1985); frontal may contact preocular scales (rare to common variant, [Storr, 1968, 1981], never observed in Glyphodon or any other elapid genera, pers. obs.); black head and nape blotches contrasting with the dorsal ground colour and separated by a distinct pale spot or bar; and a reticulate dorsal pattern where each scale may have a black edge, yellow basal spot and red intermediate zone (three distinct pigments; [Storr, 1968]). Cacophis spp. lack most of these derived features and retain the alternate states common to most other Australasian taxa (preocular contacts second labial and frequently nasal; ventrals strongly pigmented; scales less glossy; eyes pale; postorbital lacks anteroposterior kinesis; no contact of preocular and frontal scales; occipital and dorsal ground colour similar; pale spots on dorsal scales single-coloured), and can thus be excluded from the (Glyphodon (Furina (Neelaps, Simoselaps))) clade (Scanlon 2003). Note however that Cacophis is rather distantly related to Furina (Zaher et al. 2019). |
| Comment | Synonymy mainly after COGGER 1983. Synonymy of Glyphodon and Furina has been adopted by Hutchinson (1990) and others, in part to deal with the apparent problem of classifying Glyphodon barnardi Kinghorn, 1939. Phylogenetics: Cogger's (1975) key to genera purports to distinguish the genera Glyphodon and Furina on the criterion of 'nasal undivided' (Furina) vs. 'nasal divided' (Glyphodon), but in fact G. barnardi has the nasal undivided and would be assigned to Furina by this criterion. Polarity of this character is ambiguous since both states occur in related genera, but other cranial and external morphological evidence suggests that G. tristis and G. dunmalli are sister taxa (e.g. in both species the parasphenoid is excluded from the optic fenestra, an uncommon derived character not observed in G. barnardi or other Furina spp.), while G. barnardi, Furina diadema and F. ornata are more closely related to the fossorial radiation of Neelaps and Simoselaps (Scanlon, 1985, 1988). Scanlon 2003 therefore retains Glyphodon as a distinct genus for G. tristis and G. dunmalli, and refers G. barnardi to Furina (Scanlon 2003). See also F. diadema, the type species of the genus Furina. Venomous! Type species: Glyphodon tristis GÜNTHER 1858: 211 is the type species of the genus Glyphodon GÜNTHER 1858: 210, now a synonym of Furina Duméril 1853. |
| Etymology | Presumably named after the Latin tristis (sad), in reference to the dark coloration. (G. Shea, pers. comm., 9 Feb 2024) |
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