Morelia amethistina (Schneider, 1801)

Schleip, Wulf D. & O'Shea, Mark, 2010, Annotated checklist of the recent and extinct pythons (Serpentes, Pythonidae), with notes on nomenclature, taxonomy, and distribution, ZooKeys 66, pp. 29-80 : 44-45

Morelia amethistina (Schneider, 1801)

Synonyms:

Austroliasis amethistina (Schneider) - Hoser 2000 (incorrect subsequent spelling, APP4)

Australiasis amethistina (Schneider) - Hoser 2004

Australiasis amethystina clarki (Barbour, 1914) - Hoser 2004

Australiasis duceboracensis ( Günther, 1879) - Hoser 2004

Australiasis amethistina (Scheider) - Hoser 2009 (APP8, see introduction)

Australiasis dipsadides (Ogilby, 1891) - Hoser 2009 (APP8, see introduction)

Distribution:

Kraus and Allison (2004) reported Morelia amethistina from Fergusson Island.

Remarks:

Harvey et al. (2000) identified three races within the species, two from the mainland of New Guinea, separated by the Central Mountain Range (also see remarks on Morelia clarki ), and another race from New Ireland (see remarks on Morelia duceboracensis ). This is consistent with other species found in this region (e.g., the two lineages of the green tree python (sensu Rawlings and Donnelan 2003), and Leiopython albertisii / Leiopython hoserae ). According to Harvey et al. (2000), the holotype of Australiasis amethistina is lost. We call for the designation of a neotype.