GeckPhotographer
Very Well-Known Member
Morelia spilota spilota is the type 'ssp' of the Carpet Python Complex, that is the first described.
Over time since that description further species were described including Morelia mcdowelli, cheynei, bredli and imbricata, some of which were described multiple times under different names and from different localities and as both full species and sup-species.
Irregardless of what descriptions were made the general scientific community ACCEPTED these as sup-species but acceptance of any of them as full species was not widely taken.
For this reason despite that M. s. bredli was formally officially described as a full species, it is accepted only as a sub-species of carpet.
However I believe there is a PhD thesis out there showing good evidence for the recognition of both M. s. bredli and M. s. imbricata as full species. However the findings have not yet been published outside of the thesis.
What's written above is my limited understanding and by no means 'the entire story'. But certainly the more conservative viewpoint says that M. spilota bredli should remain recognized a sub-specieis for the current time.
Over time since that description further species were described including Morelia mcdowelli, cheynei, bredli and imbricata, some of which were described multiple times under different names and from different localities and as both full species and sup-species.
Irregardless of what descriptions were made the general scientific community ACCEPTED these as sup-species but acceptance of any of them as full species was not widely taken.
For this reason despite that M. s. bredli was formally officially described as a full species, it is accepted only as a sub-species of carpet.
However I believe there is a PhD thesis out there showing good evidence for the recognition of both M. s. bredli and M. s. imbricata as full species. However the findings have not yet been published outside of the thesis.
What's written above is my limited understanding and by no means 'the entire story'. But certainly the more conservative viewpoint says that M. spilota bredli should remain recognized a sub-specieis for the current time.
