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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 ater (KREFFT 1866)
Notechis scutatus scutatus (PETERS 1861)
Notechis scutatus occidentalis GLAUERT 1948
Notechis scutatus humphreysi WORRELL 1963
Notechis scutatus niger KINGHORN 1921: 145 
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. ?)
Alecto fasciolata JAN & SORDELLI 1873
Hoplocephalus fuscus STEINDACHNER 1867: 82
Notechis scutatus — BOULENGER 1896
Notechis scutatus — KINGHORN 1924
Notechis ater serventyi WORRELL 1963
Notechis scutatus — COGGER 1983: 229
Notechis scutatus — WELCH 1994: 93
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 serventyi — MIRTSCHIN et al. 2017

Notechis scutatus ater (KREFFT 1866)
Hoplocephalus ater KREFFT 1866: 370
Notechis scutatus ater — GLAUERT 1948
Notechis ater — COGGER 1983: 229
Notechis ater — WELCH 1994: 93
Notechis ater — COGGER 2000: 659
Notechis scutatus ater — MIRTSCHIN et al. 2017
Notechis scutatus ater — EIPPER & EIPPER 2024

Notechis scutatus humphreysi WORRELL 1963
Notechis scutatus humphreysi — MIRTSCHIN et al. 2017
Notechis scutatus humphreysi — EIPPER & EIPPER 2024

Notechis scutatus niger KINGHORN 1921: 145
Notechis scutatus niger — MIRTSCHIN et al. 2017
Notechis scutatus niger — EIPPER & EIPPER 2024

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
Notechis scutatus occidentalis — EIPPER & EIPPER 2024 
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)


Additional details (508 characters) are available for collaborators and contributors. Please contact us for details. 
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. Keogh et al. 2005 do not recognize subspecies within N. scutatus.

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).

Reference images: see Uetz et al. 2024 for high-resolution reference images for this species. 
EtymologyNamed after Latin scutum = an oblong shield and scutatus = armed with a shield.

N. s. ater was named after its color, Latin “ater, atra, atrum” = dark or black.

N. s. occidentalis was named after Latin occidentalis = "western" and refers to its western distribution.

The genus Notechis was likely named after the Greek notos (the South), plus the Greek Echis, a common generic base name for snakes, alluding to the southern hemisphere distribution of this genus. Derivation not stated by Boulenger (1896). 
References
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