Morelia (snake)

"Morelia (genus)" redirects here. For the plant genus, see List of Rubiaceae genera.

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, 1919 Australiasis Wells & Wellington, 1984 Nyctophylopython Wells & Wellington, 1984 Montypythonoides M.J. Smith and Plane, 1985

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.

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 (6.6–9.8 ft).

Geographic range

Found from Indonesia in the Maluku Islands, east through New Guinea, including the Bismarck Archipelago and in Australia.

Species

There are seven species recognised at ITIS.

Species	IUCN Status	Taxon author	Subsp.*	Common name	Geographic range
M. amethistina 160 px	LC	(Schneider, 1801)	5	Amethystine python; Scrub python	Indonesia (Maluku Islands, Timorlaut Islands, Banda, Kai Islands, Aru Islands, Misool, Selawati, most of Western New Guinea, many islands in Geelvink Bay), Papua New Guinea (including Umboi Island, Bismarck Archipelago, Trobriand Islands, the d'Entrecasteaux Islands to Rossel Island, Louisiade Archipelago), and Australia (on some islands in the Torres Strait, the northern Cape York Peninsula south including the Atherton Tableland and the eastern foothills of the Great Dividing Range).
M. boeleni		(Brongersma, 1953)	0	Boelen’s python	Indonesia (Western New Guinea in the Wissel Lakes region) and Papua New Guinea (the provinces of Eastern Highlands, Central and Morobe, and Goodenough Island).
M. bredli 160 px		(Gow, 1981)	0	Bredl’s python; Centralian python	Australia, in the mountains of southern Northern Territory
M. carinata		(L.A. Smith, 1981)	0	Rough scaled python	Australia, northwestern Western Australia in the lower sections of the Mitchell and Hunter rivers, just inland from the coast.
M. oenpelliensis		(Gow, 1977)	0	Oenpelli python	Australia, Northern Territory, in the sandstone outcrops of western Arnhem Land.
M. spilotaT 160 px	LC LR/nt	(Lacépède, 1804)	6	Carpet python; Diamond python	Indonesia (southern Western New Guinea in Merauke Regency), Papua New Guinea (southern Western Province, the Port Moresby area of Central Province and on Yule Island) and Australia (excluding much of the center and north west of the country).
M. viridis 160 px	LC	(Schlegel, 1872)	1	Green tree python	Indonesia (Misool, Salawati, Aru Islands, Schouten Islands, most of Western New Guinea), Papua New Guinea (including nearby islands from sea level to 1,800 m elevation, Normanby Island and the d'Entrecasteaux Islands) and Australia (Queensland along the east coast of the Cape York Peninsula).
M. riversleighensis†		(Scanlon, 2001 )	0	n/a	Extinct, remains found in Queensland, Australia.

*) Not including the nominate subspecies.
^T) Type species.

See also

• List of pythonid species and subspecies.
• Pythonidae by common name.
• Pythonidae by taxonomic synonyms.

External links

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

• Morelia at the Reptarium.cz Reptile Database. Accessed 10 September 2007.