rare tipans

[pyalda]

in 2006 there was a newly discovered Tipan species called the CENTRAL RANGES TIPAN. these guys are extremely rare... to tell u how rare...only 5 of them have ever been seen and captured.
here is some pics and URL's u can check out if ur interested.

by far the most beautiful and gorgeous snake Ive ever seen in Australia.
some URL's.....
Deadly Central Ranges Taipan Snake found in WA Desert

Rare taipans found in WA's Great Victorian Desert, head to Adelaide Zoo | Perth Now

 

[Skelhorn]

So they bottle the ********** even tho its that rare lol? ***?

 

[richoman_3]

So they bottle the ********** even tho its that rare lol? ***?

youve got to describe something before it can be called new :/ *facepalm*

 

[Kimberlyann]

youve got to describe something before it can be called new :/ *facepalm*

So you have to kill it to describe it?

 

[Venomous1111]

So they bottle the ********** even tho its that rare lol? ***?

Preserving champ.

So you have to kill it to describe it?

How do you know they killed it and it wasn't found already dead?

 

[Jungletrans]

I have always hated the way scientists discover a new animal then kill it for proof . But to capture all 5 that have ever been seen is totally off .

 

[NATHAN93]

It will be interesting to see if the venom matches the inlands deadliness

 

[eipper]

First off there have been 6 live specimens found and one dead.

1 was killed and became the holotype.

The second specimen was deposited dead into the wam collection from a new locality.

4 live specimens were found on combined trip of which two specimens were brought live in to captivity

Lastly a group of herps, some of which are on this site, found and photographed a live specimen.

To describe it it needs to be killed and placed into museum. This speciemen known as the holotype becomes the tangible reference point for researchers to base work and compare against.

You need it to be described so it is recognized, once it is recognized it can be protected. You cannot protect something effectively without knowing of its existence.

Venom work has been/ is being conducted and will be published. When this occurs I will post a note on the forum if you wish.

Cheers
scott

 

[Renenet]

To describe it it needs to be killed and placed into museum. This speciemen known as the holotype becomes the tangible reference point for researchers to base work and compare against.

Seriously? In previous centuries there was no other way to do it. With all the imaging technology and molecular know-how we have available to us in 2012 you'd think killing an animal would no longer be necessary. Is there any information that the holotype gives us that couldn't be gathered and stored another way?

I'd certainly be interested in the venom work, so please do give us the heads up when that's completed.

 

[eipper]

Renenet,

Simply put the advancements in technology is incredible. I am sure the data that can be collected and stored is fantastic.... But there are continual advancements, the data you collect now will be taken differently in years to come as methods refine and revolutionize. How can you use these advancements without a body to perform them on? How can you be sure that the body described is the same as the one from a data set and how can that compare to this data set..... Simply put they cannot with an initial reference point. Hence the importance of a holotype.

Cheers
scott

 

[OzGecko]

So you have to kill it to describe it?

At the time the first animal was caught, it was just thought to be a local variant of the Western Brown snake. It wasnt until it got back to the WA museum that it was found to be a new species that genetically typed out to being a taipan.

 

[Elapidae1]

Obviously with only six verifiable sightings it would be unreasonable to state that it is common but I think it would also be more correct to say it is rarely encountered rather than rare.
I personally believe along with others that it is likely common in it's habitat and think that as more people attempt to find and build upon what we know of this species, their range has a potential to widen significantly as well.

OzGecko, As I understand it Brad Maryan realised it wasn't a Western Brown due to it's morphological attributes the genetics confirmed this.
I wonder if the holotype was closer to their known maximum size, would there have been any confusion, or would they have automatically known they were on to something different. It certainly doesn't look like a Western Brown.

 

[Pythoninfinite]

I remember Brad saying he's bet his left gonad that it was a Taipan, in the face of the skeptical senior staff at the WAM... lucky he won the bet! It was his good mate Greg Harold, a museum voluteer, who recognised the Rough-scaled Python as being NOT a Children's Python, despite the first ever animal collected being stored as a CP by the staff snake man...

Jamie

 

[URS]

Here are four very average pictures of them here is Adelaide.

 

[crocodile_dan]

Does anyone have an update on the captive specimens at Adelaide Zoo? Are they on display yet?

Too quick for me URS

 

[Elapidae1]

Unfortunately due to battery problems These pics were taken without any control of settings and then post processed to the best I could achieve.
Thankfully another herp got much better shots.

 

[Pseudo]

Still amazing pictures to see. Can you share how the animal was found? Crossing a road? On foot? etc..

 

[richoman_3]

awesome awesome awesome !
great photos

 

[Elapidae1]

It was found crossing the road.

As I said earlier they're unlikely to be as rare as is commonly believed. and taking into account their remoteness will continue to be rarely encountered and even less likely recognised for what they are. I'm completely confident that 5 specimens is not going to have any detrimental effect on this species

For those concerned that the first 5 were taken for scientific purposes you can rest assured that the one pictured is where it belongs in the bush.

 

[benjamind2010]

Tim, the colouring on that 3rd shot looks eerily similar to the colouring on some varieties of children's python. But the scalation and head shape and eyes give it all away. If they extract venom from these it would be interesting to find out how it compares to the venom from other taipans. I could well be the most toxic terrestrial snake of all, but to my knowledge the Fierce snake holds that position as it stands now.