Morelia (genus)

Morelia
Morelia spilota
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Subphylum: Vertebrata
Class: Reptilia
Order: Squamata
Suborder: Serpentes
Family: Pythonidae
Genus: Morelia
J. E. Gray, 1842
Synonyms
  • Morelia Gray, 1842
  • Simalia Gray, 1849
  • Chondropython Meyer, 1874
  • Aspidopython Meyer, 1874
  • Hypaspistes Ogilby, 1819
  • Australiasis Wells & Wellington, 1984
  • Nyctophylopython Wells & Wellington, 1984[1]
  • Montypythonoides Smith and Plane, 1985[2]

Morelia is a genus of large snakes in the Pythonidae family. They are found in Indonesia, New Guinea, and throughout Australia. Currently, 8 species are recognized.[3]

In general, these snakes are arboreal to semi-arboreal, spending much of their life in the forest canopy. Although there are exceptions, most attain adult lengths of 2–3 m (5–8 feet).

Found from Indonesia in the Maluku Islands, east through New Guinea, including the Bismark Archipelago and in Australia.[1]

There are eight species recognised at ITIS.[3]

The species is a "well characterised fossil taxon", related to the extant Morelia spilota and Morelia oenpelliensis.[4]

See also

References

  1. ^ a b McDiarmid RW, Campbell JA, Touré T. 1999. Snake Species of the World: A Taxonomic and Geographic Reference, vol. 1. Herpetologists' League. 511 pp. ISBN 1-893777-00-6 (series). ISBN 1-893777-01-4 (volume).
  2. ^ a b Scanlon, J.D. (2001). "Montypythonoides revisited: the Miocene snake Morelia riversleighensis (Smith and Plane, 1985) and the question of pythonine origins". In Hand, S.J., and Laurie, J.R. (eds.). Riversleigh Symposium 1998: Proceedings of a Research Symposium on Fossils from Riversleigh and Murgon, Queensland, held at the University of New South Wales, December, 1998. Memoirs of the Association of Australasian Palaeontologists 25. pp. 1–35. 
  3. ^ a b "Morelia". Integrated Taxonomic Information System. http://www.itis.gov/servlet/SingleRpt/SingleRpt?search_topic=TSN&search_value=209585. Retrieved 10 September 2007. 
  4. ^ Rawlings, Leslie H., Leslie H.; Daniel L. Rabosky, Stephan C. Donnellan & Mark N. Hutchinson.. "Python phylogenetics: Inference from morphology and mitochondrial DNA.". Biological Journal of the Linnaean Society. (93): pp. 603–619.. http://www.cnah.org/pdf_files/909.pdf. 

External links

Media related to Morelia (genus) at Wikimedia Commons
Data related to Morelia at Wikispecies