Current status of Pseudechis weigeli

[Stefan]

Hi there!

Does some one have some information on the current status of Pseudechis weigeli?

When I am searching around for information about Pseudechis I sometimes see the name weigeli. This would be a pigmy mulga from Australia. The pigmy mulga from PNG is mostly called Pailsus rossignollii.

Would like to know little more about these animals

 

[grimbeny]

I have seen one at the australian reptile park in Sydney, Aus. Which conveniently is owned by Weigel himself.

 

[jamgo]

Talk to Hemiaspis on this site has he is keeping them.

 

[Stefan]

Thanks I will do that!

 

[$NaKe PiMp]

i love black snake talk especialy on newer described species i did research on this species as i was writing an assignment on the whole genus and this paper describes the species if you can find it
Phylogeography of Australia
s king brown snake
(Pseudechis australis) reveals Pliocene divergence
and Pleistocene dispersal of a top predator

I got a copy from Nephrus he actually found two weigeli on a trip up north and he emailed me a copy of this paper

 

[grimbeny]

I have a copy of the paper, if you pm me your email i can send it.

 

[Bushfire]

Of the pygmy Pseudechis, is it still weigeli (Kimberley), unnamed/unknown sp (Katherine/Armhamland), and pailsei (spelling ?)(QLD)? Also wasnt weigeli described in a much older paper by weigel??

 

[eipper]

bushfire,

weigeli was described by w&w in 1987

of the pygmy mulga's
weigeli...kimberly's
undescribed from top end stone country
pailsei from isa and riversley
rossignoili from southern NG

Cheers,
Scott

 

[Bushfire]

I thought that was the case, and thought it was described in another paper just buggered up by who. Thanks for the correction

 

[Stefan]

Thank you all for the replies! I have send Grimbeny my email address so I will get the paper soon I think

So there are some more different pygmy mulga's I understand...

Pseudechis weigeli from Kimberley area (at Tasmania?)
Pseudechis pailsei from (mount?) Isa and Riversley (park?)
Pseudechis rossignollii from PNG

And one undescribed species of pygmy mulga

Are these all "accepted"?

 

[eipper]

Well whether they are accepted or not is a matter of taxonomic preference....

The species mentioned above are all strongly supported clades, however the authors of the paper did not use them as there is confusion to some of the validity of the names.

Cheers,
Scott

 

[-Peter]

Thank you all for the replies! I have send Grimbeny my email address so I will get the paper soon I think

So there are some more different pygmy mulga's I understand...

Pseudechis weigeli from Kimberley area (at Tasmania?)
Pseudechis pailsei from (mount?) Isa and Riversley (park?)
Pseudechis rossignollii from PNG

And one undescribed species of pygmy mulga

Are these all "accepted"?

Stefan, the Kimberly is northwestern Australia (northern Western Australia) and Riversly is in northeastern Australia (northern Queensland)

 

[Stefan]

Thanks Peter for clearing that up. Australia is large and google doesn't know of find everything

 

[Hemiaspis]

Hey Stefan,
Eipper is correct. It appears that there are three species contained within the "pygmy mulga" complex. Weigeli is confined to the Kimberly escarpment and local surrounding areas, Pailsai is found in north-west Qld and the current undescribed morph is local to the Top End of the NT.

This species seems to avoid direct competition with P. australis as it is found on drainage lines in the escarpment country of these areas, whereas P. australis appears to utilise the low-lying flood plains in each of these regions. Scat examination revealed lizards (skinks and geckos) comprise the majority of the diet.

I have maintained specimens from each of the localities and found them notoriously difficult to switch them to a diet of thawed mice. The two weigeli specimens I have now, were force-fed for the first 18 months of captivity, but are now voracious feeders on thawed mice.

Whilst pailsai and NT sp. are typically a tan to reddish-brown colour with faint to moderate magenta coloured lines on the nape and forebody, weigeli are the most striking with a heavy reticulum of yellow and brown, with a combination of red flecks and lines throughout the forebody.

They are far more flighty than P. australis, and due to their lighter body mass are quite agile. Total length appears to be around 1.2-1.4 metres.

You can see some pics of weigeli in the albums on my home page.

Hope this helps,

All the Best.

 

[Stefan]

Thank you a lot! I will look for some pictures now

 

[Caissaca]

Some very nice photos were recently posted at FieldHerpForum • View topic - Aussie Elapids (many more pics added)

 

[Stefan]

@ Hemiaspis: Thanks a lot for the explanation. Gorgeous specimens you have of the weigeli!

@ Caissaca: Thanks for the link, you ow me a new keyboard... It is broken due to drooling all over the place :lol:"

@ All: Thanks all, learning a lot here. Maybe I am not searching correctly, but for me it is hard to find good information about Australian Elapids

Now I would like to know little more about all Notechis species and subspecies... You see a lot of names come by, but it changes every time and would like to know what (sub)species have what distribution.

Does some people have some good papers about Notechis?

Species and subspecies as I find them often:

Notechis scutatus scutatus
Notechis scutatus occidentalis

Notechis ater ater
Notechis ater niger
Notechis ater humphreysi
Notechis ater serventyi
Notechis ater occidentalis

As you see, the occidentalis is mentioned two times... Is it a subspecies of scutatus or ater? What makes them differ from eachother? As in colors, dna, scales and distribution

You guys are great!

 

[eipper]

Stefan,
All subspecies and the name ater was sunk....they are all tiger snakes now

Cheers,
Scott

 

[Stefan]

So Notechis ater doesn't exist anymore? :shock: And also the subspecies? Only Notechis scutatus is recognized now, without any subspecies? Or are all the ater subspecies become like scutatus niger, scutatus serventyi etc?

Would really like to read a paper about this!

 

[eipper]

Stefan,
As I said Notechis ater and all subspecies were sunk in about 2002. I would need to dig up the paper.

Cheers,
Scott