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Pseudechis porphyriacus (SHAW, 1794)

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Higher TaxaElapidae (Hydrophiinae), Colubroidea, Caenophidia, Alethinophidia, Serpentes, Squamata (snakes)
Subspecies 
Common NamesE: Red-bellied Black Snake, Australian black snake
G: Rotbäuchige Schwarzotter 
SynonymColuber porphyriacus SHAW 1794: 27
Trimeresurus leptocephalus LACÉPÈDE 1804: 209
Acanthophis tortor LESSON 1830
Naja porphyrica SCHLEGEL 1837: 479 (in error pro Coluber porphyriacus)
Trimeresurus porphyreus — DUMÉRIL & BIBRON 1854: 1247
Pseudechis porphyraicus [sic] MCCOY 1867 (in error pro Coluber porphyriacus)
Pseudechys porphyriacus — MCCOY 1878
Pseudechis porphyriacus — LONGMAN 1915: 30
Pseudechis porphyriacus — COGGER 1983
Pseudechis porphyriacus — WELCH 1994: 103
Pseudechis porphyriacus — COGGER 2000: 668
Pseudechis porphyriacus eipperi HOSER 2003
Pseudechis porphyriacus rentoni HOSER 2003
Pseudechis porphyriacus — WILSON & SWAN 2010
Pseudechis porphyriacus — WALLACH et al. 2014: 597
Pseudechis porphyriacus — MIRTSCHIN et al. 2017 
DistributionAustralia (New South Wales, Queensland, South Australia, Victoria)  
Reproductionovovivparous 
TypesHolotype: lost (likely to have been in BMNH), New Holland [Australia] by inference. See Shaw (1801), who reported that the species was described from a single specimen.
Lectotype: RMNH unnumbered (only syntype located), from Australia, designated by Cogger 1983 [leptocephalus]
Syntypes: unlocated, from Australasia (Port Jackson, N. S. W. and New South Wales) [tortor] 
Diagnosis 
CommentSynonymy after COGGER 1983.

Synonymy: P. p. eipperi and rentoni are probably synonyms of the nominate form, P. porphyriacus (W. WÜSTER, pers. comm., 15 Dec 2010).

Venomous!

Type species: Coluber porphyriacus SHAW 1794: 27 is the type species of the genus Pseudechis WAGLER 1830.

Distribution: see map of localities in MADDOCK et al. 2016.

Diagnosis (genus): Cogger 1986 (fide Hutchinson 1990, who doesn’t cite Cogger 1986, but he cites Cogger in Grigg 1985).

Group: McDowell 1970: 189 provides a key to the genera of the “Pseudechis group” in which he includes Pseudechis, Austrelaps, Suta, and Micropechis. 
EtymologyNamed after Greek porphyra (= purple, violet), alluding to the crimson ventral and side colouration.

The genus was named after Greek pseudos (= false) and the genus Echis, alluding to the separation of the type species P. porphyriacus from Echis. 
References
  • Blackburn, D.G. 1994. Standardized criteria for the recognition of embryonic nutritional patterns in squamate reptiles. Copeia 1994 (4): 925-935 - get paper here
  • Blackburn, Daniel G. 1999. Are Viviparity and Egg-guarding Evolutionarily Labile in Squamates? Herpetologica 55 (4): 556-573 - 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.
  • Duméril, A. M. C., Bibron, G. & DUMÉRIL, A. H. A., 1854. Erpétologie générale ou histoire naturelle complète des reptiles. Tome septième. Deuxième partie, comprenant l'histoire des serpents venimeux. Paris, Librairie Encyclopédique de Roret: i-xii + 781-1536 - get paper here
  • Eldridge, M. D. B., S. Ingleby, A. G. King, S. V. Mahony, H. E. Parnaby, C. A. Beatson, A. Divljan, G. J. Frankham, A. C. Hay, R. E. Major, S. E. Reader, R. A. Sadlier, and L. R. Tsang. 2020. Australian Museum surveys of the vertebrate fauna of Coolah Tops National Park, NSW. Technical Reports of the Australian Museum Online 30: 1–26 - get paper here
  • Hoser, R. 2003. A re-assessment of the taxonomy of the red-bellied black snakes (Pseudechis) with the description of two new subspecies. Boydii, unnumbered: 15-18 - get paper here
  • 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
  • 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
  • Kay, G.M.; D. Michael; M. Crane; S. Okada; C. MacGregor; D. Florance; D. Trengove; L. McBurney; D. Blair; D.B. Lindenmayer. 2013. A list of reptiles and amphibians from Box Gum Grassy Woodlands in south-eastern Australia. Check List 9 (3):476-481 - get paper here
  • LaCépède, B. G. E. L. 1804. Mémoire sur plusieurs animaux de la Nouvelle- Hollande dont la description n’a pas encore été publiée. Annales du Muséum National d’Histoire Naturelle, Paris, 4:184-211 - get paper here
  • Lesson, R.P. 1830. Description de quelques reptiles nouveaux ou peu connus. In: M.L.I. Duperrey, Voyage Autour du Monde Execute par Ordre du Roi, sur la Corvette de La Majeste, La Coquille, Pendant les Annees 1822, 1823, 1824 et 1825. 2. Zoologie Tome 2, Partie 1. Arthur Bertrand, Paris: 1-65 [published 1829 fide Ivan Ineich] - get paper here
  • Longman, H. A. 1915. Reptiles from Queensland and the Northern Territory. Memoirs of the Queensland Museum 3: 30-34. - get paper here
  • Maddock, Simon T.;Aaron Childerstone, Bryan Grieg Fry, David J. Williams , Axel Barlow, Wolfgang Wüster 2016. Multi-locus phylogeny and species delimitation of Australo-Papuan blacksnakes (Pseudechis Wagler, 1830: Elapidae: Serpentes). Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 107: 48-55 [2017, but published online 2016] - get paper here
  • McCoy, F. 1867. On the recent zoology and palaeontology of Victoria. Ann. Mag. Nat. Hist. (3) 20: 175-202 - get paper here
  • McCoy, F. 1878. Pseudechys porphyriacus (SHAW SP.). The Black Snake. Hoplocephalus superbus (Günth.) The Copper-head snake [... etc...] Prodromus of the Zoology of Victoria 1: 5- - get paper here
  • Michael, D.R.; D.B. Lindenmayer; M. Crane; C. MacGregor; R. Montague-Drake; L. McBurney. 2011. Reptilia, Murray catchment, New South Wales, southeastern Australia. Check List 7 (1):25-29 - get paper here
  • Mirtschin, P., Rasmussen, A.R. & Weinstein, S.A. 2017. Australia’s Dangerous snakes. CSIRO Publishing, 424 pp. - get paper here
  • Mo, Matthew 2015. Herpetofaunal community of the constructed Lime Kiln Bay Wetland, south Sydney, New South Wales. Victorian Naturalist 132 (3): 64-72 - get paper here
  • Mo, Matthew 2019. Seasonality and frequency of snake and goanna incursions on an Australian agricultural institute and the attitudes of staff regarding coexistence. IRCF 26 (1): 16–20 - get paper here
  • Mo, Matthew; Peter Hayler, and Antonia Hayler 2020. Observations of Australian Red-bellied Blacksnakes (Pseudechis porphyriacus) preying on freshwater eels. IRCF Reptiles & Amphibians 27 (1): 91–93 - get paper here
  • Murphy, Michael J. 1994. Reptiles and amphibians of Seven Mile Beach National park, NSW. Herpetofauna (Sydney) 24 (2): 24-30
  • Naimo, A. C., Jones, C., Chapple, D. G., & Wong, B. 2021. Has an invasive lizard lost its antipredator behaviours following 40 generations of isolation from snake predators?. Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology, 75(9), 1-11 - get paper here
  • O’Shea, M. 2018. The Book of Snakes. Ivy Press / Quarto Publishing, London, - get paper here
  • Phillips, Ben L and Richard Shine 2006. An invasive species induces rapid adaptive change in a native predator: cane toads and black snakes in Australia. Proc. R. Soc. B 273 (1593): 1545-1550, doi: 10.1098/rspb.2006.3479 - get paper here
  • Schlegel, H. 1837. Essai sur la physionomie des serpens. Partie Descriptive. La Haye (J. Kips, J. HZ. et W. P. van Stockum), 606 S. + xvi - get paper here
  • Shaw,G. 1794. The Zoology of New Holland. London, 33 pp. - get paper here
  • Shine, R. 1977. Habitats, diets, and sympatry in snakes: a study from Australia. Can. J. Zool. 55: 1118-1128 - get paper here
  • Shine, R. 1987. Intraspecific Variation in Thermoregulation, Movements and Habitat use by Australian Blacksnakes, Pseudechis porphyriacus (Elapidae) Journal of Herpetology 21 (3): 165-177. - get paper here
  • Shine, Richard; Grigg, Gordon;Shine, Terri G.;Harlow, Peter 1981. Mating and male combat in Australian blacksnakes, Pseudechis porphyriacus. Journal of Herpetology 15 (1): 101-107 - get paper here
  • Simpson, KNG 1973. AMPHIBIANS, REPTILES AND MAMMALS OF THE MURRAY RIVER region between Mildura and Renmark, Australia. Mem. Nat. Mus. Vict. 34: 275-279 - get paper here
  • Swan, G.; Sadlier, R.; Shea, G. 2017. A field guide to reptiles of New South Wales. Reed New Holland, 328 pp.
  • 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.
 
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