Spotted python

Spotted python
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Reptilia
Order: Squamata
Suborder: Serpentes
Family: Pythonidae
Genus: Antaresia
Species:
A. maculosa
Binomial name
Antaresia maculosa
(Peters, 1873)
Synonyms
  • Liasis maculosus - Peters, 1873
  • Antaresia maculosus - Wells & Wellington, 1984
  • A[ntaresia]. maculosa - Kluge, 1993[1]

The spotted python, eastern small-blotched python, or eastern Children's python (Antaresia maculosa) is a python species found in northern Australia and New Guinea.[2] It is a popular pet among Australian reptile enthusiasts and other reptile enthusiasts abroad due to its small size and even temperament. No subspecies were originally recognized.[2][3] However, two subspecies were recognized as of 2020; A. m. maculosa and A. m. peninsularis.

The spotted pythons of New Guinea were proposed to be reclassified in 2021 as their own unique species, A. papuensis or the Papuan spotted python, in the same study that discovered the two mainland subspecies.[4] However, both ITIS and The Reptile Database currently consider the two variants as synonyms.

  1. ^ McDiarmid, R.W., J.A. Campbell & T.Touré 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. ^ a b Cite error: The named reference NRDB was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  3. ^ "Antaresia maculosa". Integrated Taxonomic Information System. Retrieved 18 September 2007.
  4. ^ Esquerré, Damien; Donnellan, Stephen C.; Pavón-Vázquez, Carlos J.; Fenker, Jéssica; Keogh, J. Scott (August 2021). "Phylogeography, historical demography and systematics of the world's smallest pythons (Pythonidae, Antaresia)". Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution. 161: 107181. doi:10.1016/j.ympev.2021.107181. PMID 33892100. S2CID 233383151.

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