Pseudechis australis

Pseudechis australis
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Reptilia
Order:	Squamata
Suborder:	Serpentes
Family:	Elapidae
Genus:	Pseudechis
Species:	P. australis
Binomial name
Pseudechis australis Gray, 1842[1]
Range of King Brown (in red)

Pseudechis australis, the common King Brown, Mulga snake or Pilbara cobra, is a species of venomous snake found in Australia. It is one of the longest venomous snakes in the world and the second longest in Australia. Despite one of its common names, "King Brown", it is part of the Pseudechis (black snake) genus.

Physical description

Mulga snakes are large venomous snakes growing from 2.5 metres to 3 metres in length. It is exceeded in size by the venomous King Cobra, the African Mambas, the Australian Taipan, and genus Lachesis (Bushmaster). Depending on its areal extent, mulga snakes can be of a light brown colour in the desert to a dark brown-blackish colour in the cooler regions of Queensland, South Australia and New South Wales. Mulga snakes are robust with a wide head and smooth snout.

Venom

The Mulga snake venom consists of neurotoxin. The LD₅₀ is 2.38 mg/kg subcutaneous.^[2] Its venom is not particularly toxic to mice, but it is produced in huge quantities. The average tiger snake produces around 10–40 mg when milked. By comparison, a good sized king brown snake may deliver 150 mg in one bite.

Black snake anti-venom is used to treat bites from this species, after a CSL Venom Detection Kit has returned a conclusive result for mulga snake envenomation and there are signs that anti-venom usage is required.

Reproduction

Female mulga snakes produce a clutch of around 8–20 eggs, which may be laid in a disused burrow or beneath a log or rock. There is no maternal care for the eggs once they have been laid. Eggs take about 2–3 months to hatch, after which time the new born snakelets must care for themselves.

Range

Mulga snakes occur over much of Australia. They are found in most states of Australia except for Victoria and Tasmania. Its range includes all of the Northern Territory, most parts of Western Australia, Queensland, New South Wales and South Australia. It may also be found in the western parts of the Australian Capital Territory.

Habitat

taken at the Armadale Reptile Centre

Mulga snakes inhabit woodlands, hummock grassland, chenopod scrubland and almost bare gibber or sandy deserts usually sheltering near humans under timber, rubbish piles, burrows and deep soil cracks. They are not found in rainforests.

Diet

The mulga snake primarily preys on lizards, birds, mammals and frogs. It is well adapted to eating other snakes, including all venomous snakes.

Taxonomy

The species was first described by John Edward Gray in 1842, who placed it in the genus Naja (cobras). The species was long regarded as monotypic, but several new taxa have recently been described from within P. australis. Two new species and a new genus have been described within this complex by Raymond Hoser: Pailsus pailsei, from near Mount Isa, Queensland, Australia^[3] and Pailsus rossignolii, found in Irian Jaya.^[4] Hoser later also resurrected Pailsus weigeli (originally described as Cannia weigeli by Wells and Wellington 1987^[5]). These descriptions were initially received with skepticism due to the low level of evidence provided in the original descriptions.^[6] Later genetic analyses supported the validity of some of Hoser's species, but his genus Pailsus was shown to be a synonym of Pseudechis, and more work is needed to understand species limits among the smaller species of the group.^{[7][8][9][10]}

References

1. ^ Gray, J. E. 1842. Description of some hitherto unrecorded species of Australian reptiles and batrachians. Zoological Miscellany, London: Treuttel, Würtz & Co, pp. 51–57.
2. ^ reptilepark.com
3. ^ Hoser, Raymond 1998. A new snake from Queensland, Australia (Serpentes: Elapidae). Monitor 10(1): 5–9, 31
4. ^ Hoser, Raymond 2000. A New Species of Snake (Serpentes: Elapidae) from Irian Jaya. Litteratura Serpentium 20(6):178–186
5. ^ Wells, R.W. & C.R. Wellington (1987) A new species of proteroglyphous snake (Serpentes: Oxyuranidae) from Australia. Australian Herpetologist 503: 1–8.
6. ^ Wüster, W., B. Bush, J.S. Keogh, M. O'Shea & R. Shine (2001). "Taxonomic contributions in the "amateur" literature: comments on recent descriptions of new genera and species by Raymond Hoser.". Litteratura Serpentium 21: 67–79, 86–91. http://biology.bangor.ac.uk/~bss166/FWit/LittSerp.pdf
7. ^ Pseudechis australis at the Reptarium.cz Reptile Database
8. ^ Kuch, U., Keogh, J.S., Weigel, J., Smith, L.A., Mebs, D., 2005. Phylogeography of Australia's king brown snake (Pseudechis australis) reveals Pliocene divergence and Pleistocene dispersal of a top predator. Naturwissenschaften 92:121–127
9. ^ Wüster, W., A.J. Dumbrell, C. Hay, C.E. Pook, D.J. Williams & B.G. Fry (2005). "Snakes across the Strait: Trans-Torresian phylogeographic relationships in three genera of Australasian snakes (Serpentes: Elapidae: Acanthophis, Oxyuranus and Pseudechis).". Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 34(1): 1–14.. http://biology.bangor.ac.uk/%7Ebss166/Publications/2004_OzElapids_MPE.pdf. "superseding; Wüster, W., et al. Phylogeny and classification of Australo-Papuan black snakes and mulga snakes: comments on genus Pailsus Hoser (1998)" 
10. ^ Wüster W, Golay P, Warrell DA (August 1999). "Synopsis of recent developments in venomous snake systematics, No. 3". Toxicon 37 (8): 1123–9. PMID 10400296. http://biology.bangor.ac.uk/~bss166/Publications/ToxSyn3.pdf. 

External links

• Treatment of Australian Snake Bites