Biology:Simalia

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Short description: Genus of snakes


Simalia
High-Yellow Sorong Amethystine Scrub Python (Morelia amethistina).jpg
Adult High-Yellow Sorong Amethystine Scrub Python
Scientific classification e
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Reptilia
Order: Squamata
Suborder: Serpentes
Family: Pythonidae
Genus: Simalia
Gray, 1849
Type species
Simalia amethistina

Simalia is a genus of snakes in the family Pythonidae.[1]

Taxonomy

Simalia Gray, 1849, was considered a taxonomic synonym of

  • Liasis (a genus of non-venomous pythons found in Indonesia, New Guinea and Australia) and
  • Morelia (a genus of large snakes, in the family Pythonidae, found in Australia, Indonesia and New Guinea),

but Reynolds et al. (2014)[2] resurrected the genus for the Morelia amethistina species group (which, together with Morelia viridis, had made the genus Morelia paraphyletic).

Species

The genus Simalia contains the following species:[1]

Image Species Distribution
High-Yellow Sorong Amethystine Scrub Python (Morelia amethistina).jpg S. amethistina (Schneider, 1801) (type species) Indonesia, Papua New Guinea, and Australia.
Boelen Python 01.jpg S. boeleni (Brongersma, 1953) New Guinea
Morelia clastolepis.jpg S. clastolepis (Harvey et al., 2000) Indonesia.
Morelia kinghorni Australia Zoo.jpg S. kinghorni (Stull, 1933) northern Australia.
Morelia nauta xanthic.jpg S. nauta (Harvey et al., 2000) Indonesia.
Morelia tracyae.jpg S. tracyae (Harvey et al., 2000) Indonesian island of Halmahera.

As of June 2022, ITIS and the IUCN Red List also identify the Oenpelli python as Simalia oenpelliensis, while The Reptile Database places it in the monotypic genus Nyctophilopython.[3][4][5]

Nota bene: A binomial authority in parentheses indicates that the species was originally described in a genus other than Simalia.

References

Further reading

  • Gray JE (1849). Catalogue of the Specimens of Snakes in the Collection of the British Museum. London: Trustees of the British Museum. (Edward Newman, printer). xv + 125 pp. (Simalia, new genus, p. 91).

Wikidata ☰ Q7517342 entry