Peterescue wrote:
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if you think about it from Cape York to Wilsons Promitory round to the Flinders ranges and back up through western NSW and Qld is just one big line of intergrades of one species.
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You hit the nail on the head Pete. Is there really such thing as a specific "intergrade" in the eastern carpet python? Or is there simply variation in colours and patterns (an intergradation) between the extremes of range for the one species. The term used in the literature was simply to describe a specific range of colour variations and patterns that occur over a particular fraction of the distribution of the east coast carpet python.
Some people believe there are four distinct subspecies in the eastern population of M. spilota (Wells and Wellington's
M. s. spilota - Diamond,
mcdowelli - Coastal, cheynei - Jungle and
metcalfei - the Inland. Others don't accept subspecific status for these contiguous geographic variations in colour and pattern.
So what do we have - nothing more than a colour and pattern of the same species that is typical of a certain geographic location. Talk of intergrades between sub-species that may not exist is shear nonsense.
but Im pretty sure I read something about carpets on French Island whick isnt Wilson's Prom but pretty close. I could also just be trying to create an effect of a sweeping band of Morelia spilota.
