Pilbara death adder

The Pilbara death adder (Acanthophis wellsi), also known commonly as Wells' death adder, is a species of venomous snake in the family Elapidae. The species is one of the four members of the genus Acanthophis, a genus which is found throughout northwestern and southwestern Australia and some parts of southern Papua New Guinea.[2] The species Acanthophis wellsi is endemic to Western Australia.

Pilbara death adder
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Reptilia
Order: Squamata
Suborder: Serpentes
Family: Elapidae
Genus: Acanthophis
Species:
A. wellsi
Binomial name
Acanthophis wellsi
Hoser, 1998
Synonyms[2]
  • Acanthophis wellsei [sic]
    Hoser, 1998
  • Acanthophis wellsi
    Aplin & Donnellan, 1999
    (emendation)

Taxonomy

The Pilbara death adder was described by Raymond Hoser in 1998.[3] The specific name, wellsi, is in honor of Australian herpetologist Richard Walter Wells.[4]

Description

Dorsally, A. wellsi is usually brick red, with narrow, close-spaced gray crossbands. Individuals called "melanistic" have a black head, and the crossbands, which are wider, are yellowish brown, edged with black.[5]

Distribution and habitat

Acanthophis wellsi is found in the Hamersley Range and the Chichester Range in the Pilbara region in northern Western Australia.[2]

Habitat

The preferred natural habitats of A. wellsi are grassland, shrubland, and rocky areas.[1]

Reproduction

Acanthophis wellsi is viviparous.[2]

References

  1. Ellis R, Oliver P, Wilson S (2017). "Acanthophis wellsi ". The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2017: e.T42492807A42492811. http://dx.doi.org/10.3205/IUCN.UK.2017-3.RLTS.T42492807A42492811.en. Downloaded on 17 October 2019.
  2. Acanthophis wellsi at the Reptarium.cz Reptile Database. Accessed 26 February 2016.
  3. Hoser R (1998). "Death Adders (Genus Acanthophis): An overview, including descriptions of five new species and one subspecies". Monitor 9 (2): 20-41. ("Acanthophis wellsei [sic]", new species).
  4. Beolens, Bo; Watkins, Michael; Grayson, Michael (2011). The Eponym Dictionary of Reptiles. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press. xiii + 296 pp. ISBN 978-1-4214-0135-5. (Acanthophis wellsi, p. 281).
  5. Aplin KP, Donnellan SC (1999). "An extended description of the Pilbara Death Adder, Acanthophis wellsi Hoser (Serpentes: Elapidae), with notes on the Desert Death Adder, A. pyrrhus Boulenger, and identification of a possible hybrid zone". Records of the Western Australian Museum 19: 277-298.

Further reading



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