Elapidae - 2007 Publications

Oxyuranus temporalis - Central Ranges taipan

Doughty et al. (2007) describe a new species of taipan from the Central ranges of Western Australia, near the state line with the Northern Territory: Oxyuranus temporalis. The new species differs from its two congeneric species O. scutellatus and O. microlepidotus in lacking a temporolabial scale and having six rather than seven infralabial scales. Phylogenetic analysis of mtDNA sequences showed it to be the sister species of the two previously known taipans. The new species is known from a single specimen, so very little is known of its natural history, and nothing of its venom.

• Doughty, P., B. Maryan, S.C. Donnellan & M.N. Hutchinson (2007) A new species of taipan (Elapidae: Oxyuranus) from central Australia. Zootaxa 1422: 45–58. pdf

Bungarus javanicus synonymised with B. candidus

Kuch & Mebs (2007) examine variation in morphology, mitochondrial DNA sequence and alpha-bungarotoxin gene sequence in Bungarus spp. in Java. Their findings demonstrate that the uniformly black kraits described as a separate species, Bungarus javanicus, by Kopstein (1932) are in fact conspecific with the widespread species Bungarus candidus. The authors note profound pattern variability in the normally very conservative B. candidus in Java and discuss the likely causes of this phenomenon.

• Kuch, U. & D. Mebs (2007)  The identity of the Javan Krait, Bungarus javanicus Kopstein, 1932 (Squamata: Elapidae): evidence from mitochondrial and nuclear DNA sequence analyses and morphology. Zootaxa 1426: 1-26.

Micrurus silviae

Di-Bernardo et al. (2007) describe a new species of triadal coral snake of the Micrurus frontalis complex from the state of Rio Grande do Sul in southern Brazil: Micrurus silviae. The new species differs from other regional triadal coral snakes in having a largely black snout, a black head, a white gular region and the realtive length of the different elements of the triadal pattern. The species is currently only known from Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil.

• Di-Bernardo, M., M. Borges-Martins & N.J. da Silva (2007) A new species of coralsnake (Micrurus: Elapidae) from southern Brazil. Zootaxa 1447: 1-20.

Walterinnesia - Desert black snake

Nilson & Rastegar-Pouyani (2007) examined morphological variation in the genus Walterinnesia across its distribution, from Egypt to Iran. The eastern populations (from Turkey and Saudi Arabia to Iran) were found to differ consistently from those further west (Egypt, Israel, Jordan) in having lower scale row counts around the neck (21-23, vs. usually 25-27 in western populations), and in having a banded juvenile pattern (uniform in western populations). Nilson & Rastegar-Pouyani therfore recognise the eastern form as a distinct species of Walterinnesia, for which the name Walterinnesia morgani (Mocquard, 1905) is the oldest available name.

• Nilson, G. & N. Rastegar-Pouyani (2007) Walterinnesia aegyptia Lataste, 1887 (Ophidia: Elapidae) and the status of Naja morgani Mocquard 1905. Russian Journal of Herpetology, 14: 7-14.

Naja ashei - Ashe's spitting cobra

Left and middle: Holotype of Naja ashei; right: venom extraction showing huge venom yield from an average-sized adult.

Wüster & Broadley (2007) use multivariate morphometrics and mitochondrial DNA sequencing to investigate the systematicsof the spitting cobras of eastern Africa, and describe a new species from eastern and northern Kenya, southern Ethiopia, southern Somalia and eastern Uganda: Naja ashei. The species had previously been flagged as a distinct, large, brown colour phase of Naja nigricollis. The new species differs from East African N. nigricollis in aspects of pattern (light venter, brown dorsum, no black scale edges on lips or ventrals, no well defined dark band on neck) and scalation (combination of high ventral scale counts [> 195] and dorsal scale row counts [21+ around neck]). The new species is notable for its large size (specimens measuring 200 cm are not unusual) and its large venom yield.

• Wüster , W. & D.G. Broadley (2007) Get an eyeful of this: a new species of giant spitting cobra from eastern and north-eastern Africa (Squamata: Serpentes: Elapidae: Naja). Zootaxa 1532: 51-68. pdf

Phylogeny of Naja, status of Paranaja, Boulengerina and Naja nigricincta

From left to right: Naja annulata stormsi, Naja multifasciata, Naja nigricincta woodi

Wüster et al. (2007) investigated the phylogeny of the cobra group of elapid snakes using mtDNA sequence analysis, with particular emphasis on the evolution of venom spitting and the phylogenography of the African spitting Naja. The phylogeny of the cobra group recovered both Boulengerina annulata and Paranaja multifasciata as nested within Naja, grouping with N. melanoleuca. Since this leaves Naja paraphyletic, the genera Boulengerina and Paranaja were synonymised with Naja. The phylogenetic analysis also revealed that the taxa nigricincta and woodi share a more recent common ancestor with N. ashei and N. mossambica than with N. nigricollis. Since they are also well differentiated morphologically, N. nigricincta clearly represents a separate species from N. nigricollis. The taxon woodi was retained as a subspecies of N. nigricincta pending a more detailed analysis of the contact zones between the two.

• Wüster , W., S. Crookes, I. Ineich, Y. Mane, C.E. Pook, J.-F. Trape & D.G.Broadley (2007) The phylogeny of cobras inferred from mitochondrial DNA sequences: evolution of venom spitting and the phylogeography of the African spitting cobras (Serpentes: Elapidae: Naja nigricollis complex). Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution, 45: 437-453. pdf

Revision of Demansia

Shea and Scanlon (2007) revised the complex group of small species of Demansia once referred to the species D. olivacea and D. torquata. The following nine species are recognised: D. olivacea (Kimberley and Top End), D. torquata (coastal Queensland), D. calodera (central and northwestern Western Australia), D. angusticeps (Kimberley, western Northern Territory), D. flagellatio (western Queensland), D. rufescens (Pilbara, Western Australia), and the newly described species D. quaesitor (Northern Territory, western Queensland, extreme eastern Western Australia, D. rimicola (eastern Western Australia, Northern Territory, southwestern and central Queensland and neighbouring South Australia and northwestern NSW) and D. shinei (southern half of Northern Territory, poss central Western Australia). The species differ in aspects of colour pattern and scalation.

• Shea, G.M. & J.D. Scanlon (2007) Revision of the small tropical whipsnakes previously referred to Demansia olivacea (Gray, 1842) and Demansia torquata (Günther, 1862) (Squamata: Elapidae). Records of the Australian Museum, 59: 117-142.

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