Antaresia

Antaresia
Stimson's python, A. stimsoni
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Subphylum:	Vertebrata
Class:	Reptilia
Order:	Squamata
Suborder:	Serpentes
Family:	Pythonidae
Genus:	Antaresia Wells & Wellington, 1984
Synonyms
Antaresia - Wells & Wellington, 1984[1]

Antaresia is a genus of pythons, non-venomous snakes found in Australia. The genus in known by the common name Children's pythons, the name of the type species. Gray named it in honour of his mentor, John George Children, who was a curator of the zoological collection at the British Museum around that time. It contains the smallest members of Pythonidae.^[2] Currently, four species are recognized.^[3]

Geographic range

Found in Australia in arid and tropical regions.^[1]

Species

Species[3]	Taxon author[3]	Common name	Geographic range[1]
A. childreniT	(Gray, 1842)	Children's python	Australia in the extreme north of Western Australia, the northern third of Northern Territory, and northeastern Queensland. Also on the islands of the Torres Strait.
A. maculosa	(Peters, 1873)	Spotted python	Australia from the extreme north of the Cape York Peninsula, south through eastern Queensland to northern New South Wales. Also on many islands off the coast of Queensland.
A. perthensis	(Stull, 1932)	Pygmy python	Australia in the northwest of Western Australia, including some coastal islands.
A. stimsoni	(L.A. Smith, 1985)	Stimson's python	Australia from the coast of Western Australia through the center of the country as far as the Great Dividing Range. Not found in the far north, extreme south or east.

*) Not including the nominate subspecies.
^T) Type species.^[1]

Taxonomy

The name is taken from the star Antares, the 'tail' in the constellation Scorpius. The genus name was created in 1984 by Wells and Wellington in a revision of Children's pythons, those previously described as a single species in the genus Liasis. Despite a petition to suppress the taxonomic work of these authors, it gained wide acceptance and publication in 1991.

Four species are currently recognized in the genus Antaresia, which is contained by the family Pythonidae; infraspecific ranks have also been described.^[3]

A subspecies, A. stimsoni orientalis was described by L.A. Smith (1985), but was not recognized as valid by Barker & Barker (1994).^[1] A new subspecies, A. maculosa brentonoloughlini was described by Hoser (2003).^[4]

See also

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

References

1. ^ ^{a b c d e} 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. ^ Browne-Cooper, Robert; Brian Bush, Brad Maryan, David Robinson (2007). Reptiles and Frogs in the Bush: Southwestern Australia. University of Western Australia Press. pp. 99. ISBN 9778 1 920694 74 6. 
3. ^ ^{a b c d} "Antaresia". Integrated Taxonomic Information System. http://www.itis.gov/servlet/SingleRpt/SingleRpt?search_topic=TSN&search_value=634407. Retrieved 9 September 2007. 
4. ^ Antaresia maculosa at the Reptarium.cz Reptile Database. Accessed 9 September 2007.

External links

• Antaresia.com. Four antaresia subspecies information.
• Antaresia at the Reptarium.cz Reptile Database. Accessed 9 September 2007.
• Antaresia.info. Accessed 13 November 2007.