Taxonomy
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Taxonomy
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| First
description Genus Leiopython Taxonomic history L. albertisii L. hoserae L. bennettorum L. fredparkeri L. huonensis L. biakensis |
Taxonomic History |
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Boulenger (1893) did not accept
Hubrecht's proposal and synonymized Leiopython with Liasis. Stull
(1935) placed the taxon albertisii as a subspecies of Liasis fuscus
Peters 1873, and although she had not provided reasoning for her action,
Stull’s proposal was widely followed by subsequent workers (e.g., Loveridge,
1948; Haas De, 1950; Brongersma, 1953, 1956). Nevertheless, after examining the
skulls of the two taxa, Worrell (1961) re-assigned specific level to albertisii.
The unclear taxonomic situation of the type species of Liasis (Gray had
not designated a type species for Liasis) induced Cogger et al. (1983)
to synonymize Liasis with Bothrochilus Fitzinger 1843 (for
discussion see Stimson and McDowell, 1986). Later, Underwood
and Stimson (1990) conducted a phylogenetic study and synonymized Bothrochilus
and Liasis with Morelia Gray 1842. Kluge (1993) contradicted this
study in parts, examining 121 morphological and behavioral characters in a
phylogenetic study. The author found evidence for the distinction of the taxon albertisii
from other python species, and therefore, resurrected the oldest available
synonym Leiopython Hubrecht. More recently, Hoser (2000) introduced
one new species (Leiopython hoserae [former “black phase” WLP]) and two
new subspecies (“Leiopython albertisii barkeri” [Mussau Island] and “Leiopython
albertisii bennetti” [Wau, Morobe Prov.]) to the genus. In his revision of
the genus Leiopython, Schleip (2008) considered the name Leiopython
albertisii barkeri for the Mussau Island population a nomen nudum.
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| Cited | ||
| BOULENGER, G. A. 1893. Catalogue of
the snakes in the British Museum (Natural History). Vol. I. British
Museum (Natural History), London. BRONGERSMA, L. D. 1953. Notes on New Guinea reptiles and amphibians II. Proceedings of the Koninklijke Nederlandsche Akademie van Wetenschappen, Amsterdam (C) 56:317–325. BRONGERSMA, L. D. 1956. Notes on New Guinea reptiles and amphibians IV. Proceedings of the Koninklijke Nederlandsche Akademie van Wetenschappen, Amsterdam (C) 59:599–610. COGGER, H. G., E. E. CAMERON, AND H. M. COGGER. 1983. Zoological catalogue of Australia. Vol. 1. Amphibia and Reptilia. Bureau of Flora and Fauna Canberra. Australian Government Publishing Service, Canberra, Australia Capital Territory, Australia. HAAS DE, C. P. J. 1950. Checklist of the snakes of the Indo-Australian archipelago (Reptiles: Ophidia). Treubia 20:511–625. HOSER, R. T. 2000. A revision of the Australasian Pythons. Ophidia Review 1:7–27. KLUGE, A. G. 1993. Aspidites and the phylogeny of the Pythoninae snakes. Records of the Australian Museum Supplement 19:1–77. LOVERIDGE, A. 1948. New Guinean reptiles and amphibians in the Museum of Comparative Zoology and United States National Museum. Bulletin of the Museum of Comparative Zoology, Harvard 101:305–430. 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. STIMSON, A. F., AND S. B. MCDOWELL. 1986. Liasis Gray, 1842 (Reptilia, Serpentes): proposed designation of Liasis mackloti Dumeril and Bibron 1844 as type species Z.N.(S)2439. Bulletin of Zoological Nomenclature 43:330–334. STULL, O. G. 1935. A checklist of the family Boidae. Proceedings Boston Society of Natural History 40:387–408. UNDERWOOD, G., AND A. F. STIMSON. 1990. A classification of pythons (Serpentes, Pythoninae). Journal of Zoology London 221:565–603. WORRELL, E. 1961. Herpetological name changes. Western Australian Naturalist 8:18–27. |
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© 2001-2009
by Wulf Schleip