Taxonomy
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Taxonomy
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description Genus Leiopython Taxonomic history L. albertisii L. hoserae L. bennettorum L. fredparkeri L. huonensis L. biakensis |
Leiopython hoserae Hoser fide Schleip 2008 |
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 Figures 5: Adult female (2,5 m; 5,5 kg) captive held wc specimen collected around Timika. Note that the 6th-8th supralabial enter the eye, rather than the 5th-7th. Common names Southern White-Lipped Python; Black White-Lipped Python Holotype AMNH R-107150, a large male specimen from Wipim, Western Province, PNG, 2.41 m in length, collected by F. Parker in August 1969. Description of the holotype Supralabials 13/13, first two pitted, fifth to sixth entering the orbit and with a lateral depression; infralabials 18/18; loreals 1/1; preoculars 1/1; postoculars 3/3, without the whitish postocular spots; supraoculars 1/1; one pair of prefrontals; anterior parietals in median contact anteriorly, but do not meet uppermost postoculars, right parietal scale larger than the left; two scales behind the parietals, the left smaller than the right, both separated at the median line by an elongate scale; enlarged anterior temporals; midbody 50; ventrals 264; anal entire; subcaudals 73. (klick on pictures below for full size view)    Figures 6a-c: Holotype of Leiopython hoserae (AMNH 107150). a: Total view; b: head, lateral, right side; c: dorsal surface of the head showing the parietal structure. Diagnosis Leiopython hoserae can be distinguished from L. fredparkeri, L. albertisii, and L. biakensis by the presence of only one pair of parietals followed by a characteristic scale pattern of two small scales separated from the median line by an elongate scale that gets wider posteriorly. (klick on picture below for full size view)  Figure 7: The parietal structure of some specimens of L. hoserae collected throughout its distribution in PNG show a characterstic parietal structure, also found in the holotype specimen. It further differs from the former species in a lower average number of dorsal midbody rows, and from the latter two species by the absence of the whitish postocular spot. Furthermore, L. hoserae exceeds L. albertisii and L. biakensis in adult and hatchling body size and is darker in color (Parker, 1982; Barker and Barker, 1994; O’Shea, 1996). Molecular evidence also supports the separation of L. hoserae from L. albertisii (genetic distance between both species up to 9.3%).  Figure 8: Cladogram of the maximum likelihood tree. Numbers above the branches represent bootstrap proportions. Bootstrap proportions less 50% are not shown. It differs from L. bennettorum in the number of loreals and prefrontals as well as in lower midbody scale row counts and in the average number of postoculars. Leiopython hoserae can be distinguished from L. huonensis by the absence of the whitish postocular spot, the characteristic scale arrangement in the parietal region (L. huonensis has one pair of parietals followed by small, irregular scales) and in higher ventral scale counts. Moreover, Leiopython hoserae occurs in drier and hotter climate conditions than other taxa of the genus. Description This species can reach a length up to 3 m (10 ft.). The body color is blackish-blue dorsally fading to grayish ventrolaterally and white laterally. The dorsal surface of the head is shiny black and the chin is white. The whitish spot behind the eye is absent. 12-14 supralabials, 15-18 infralabials, single loreal and preocular; 3-4 postoculars, 4-5 anterior and posterior temporals, one large pair of prefrontals, single pair of parietal scales followed by a characteristic set of scales; 45-52 dorsal midbody-rows; 264-278 ventrals, anal entire; 64-73 subcaudals. Variation Variation in morphological characters was found in several specimens and included the presence of suboculars, the number of supralabials entering the eye, as well as the number of postoculars. Furthermore, specimens from the Western Province showed significantly higher average subcaudal scale counts and higher average number of infralabials than found in populations from the Central and Milne Bay Provinces. In two specimens, one from Kokoda and the other one from Garaina (both in the Highlands of the Owen Stanley Range) two pairs of parietals were present (for the latter see also McDowell, 1975). In the Kokoda specimen, the anterior parietal scales were also separated along the median line by three small interparietals. Furthermore, the Kokoda specimen showed an unusual head color, perhaps caused by preservation. Moreover, this specimen also had several black markings on the genial scales of the throat, only seen in one other specimen examined from Popondetta. Future research is needed on these populations! A single specimen from Timika, southwest Papua, as well as a number of live specimens exported for pet trade from Indonesia (examined by the author) as the so-called black race White-Lipped Python showed two pairs of parietals, not seen in specimens of L. hoserae from PNG and Merauke. The whitish spot found in L. albertisii was absent in all specimens of L. hoserae examined.  Figure 9: Parietal structure of specimens of the so-called "southern race" White-Lipped Python. The exact locality of collection is unknown, but these two specimens also show whitish spots behind the eye. Dorsal color is quite dark, although more brownish than seen in specimens from PNG, anyway. I've seen a couple of specimens with these kind of parietal structures at reptile exhibitions and in private collections. The image on the right shows the parietal structure of a specimen collected at Timika. Reference SCHLEIP, W. D. 2008. Revision of the Genus Leiopython Hubrecht 1879 (Serpentes: Pythonidae) with the Redescription of Taxa Recently Described by Hoser (2000) and the Description of New Species. Journal of Herpetology 42(4):645–667. |
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© 2001-2009
by Wulf Schleip