Species Antaresia childreni (Gray, 1842)
Children's Python
- Liasis childreni Gray, J.E. 1842. Synopsis of the species of prehensile-tailed snakes, or family Boidae. pp. 41-46 in Gray, J.E. (ed.). The Zoological Miscellany. London : Treuttel, Würz & Co. [44].
Type data:
Holotype BMNH 1946.1.16.78, locality unknown. - Nardoa gilbertii Gray, J.E. 1842. Synopsis of the species of prehensile-tailed snakes, or family Boidae. pp. 41-46 in Gray, J.E. (ed.). The Zoological Miscellany. London : Treuttel, Würz & Co. [45].
Type data:
Holotype BMNH 1946.1.16.69, Port Essington, NT. - Liasis stimsoni orientalis Smith, L.A. 1985. A revision of the Liasis childreni species-group (Serpentes: Boidae). Records of the Western Australian Museum 12(3): 257-276 [267].
Type data:
Holotype WAM R46846 ♀, Winduldarra Rockhole, WA [26°31'S 126°01'E]. - Liasis stimsoni stimsoni Smith, L.A. 1985. A revision of the Liasis childreni species-group (Serpentes: Boidae). Records of the Western Australian Museum 12(3): 257-276 [267].
Type data:
Holotype WAM R46846 ♀, Nullagine WA [21°58'S 120°12'E]. - Antaresia saxacola campbelli Hoser, R. 2000. A revision of the Australasian pythons. Ophidia Review 1: 7-27 [13].
Type data:
Holotype AM R69087, Wilcannia` NSW [31°34'S 143°23'E]. - Antaresia saxacola Wells, R.W. & Wellington, C.R. 1985. A classification of the Amphibia and Reptilia of Australia. Australian Journal of Herpetology Supplementary Series 1: 1-61 [Date published September, 1985] [41] [nomen nudum].
Type data:
Holotype AM R60304, 6 km N Barrow Creek (on Stuart Highway), NT [21°04'S 134°10'E].Secondary source:
Underwood, G. & Stimson, A.F. 1990. A classification of the pythons (Serpentes, Pythoninae). Journal of Zoology, London 221(4): 565–603 [603]; Kluge, A.G. 1993. Aspidites and the phylogeny of pythonine snakes. Australian Museum Records Supplement 19: 1-77 [8]; Shea, G.M. & Sadlier, R.A. 1999. A catalogue of the non-fossil amphibian and reptile type specimens in the collection of the Australian Museum: types currently, previously and purportedly present. Technical Reports of the Australian Museum 15: 1-91 [64].
Taxonomic Decision for Synonymy
- Cogger, H.G., in Cogger, H.G., Cameron, E.E. & Cogger, H.M. 1983. Amphibia and Reptilia. 313 pp. in Walton, D.W. (ed.). Zoological Catalogue of Australia. Canberra : Australian Government Publishing Service Vol. 1 vi + 313 pp. [203]
- McDiarmid, R.W., Campbell, J.A. & Touré,T.A. 1999. Snake species of the world. A taxonomic and geographic reference. Vol. 1. Washington D.C. : Herpetologists’ League pp. 511. [162]
- Esquerré, D., Donnellan, S.C., Pavón-Vázquez, C.J., Fenker, J. & Keogh, J.S. 2021. Phylogeography, historical demography and systematics of the world’s smallest pythons (Pythonidae, Antaresia). Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 161(107181): 1-19 [11]
Generic Combinations
- Bothrochilus childreni (Gray, 1842).
- Antaresia childreni (Gray, 1842).
- Antaresia stimsoni orientalis (Smith, 1985).
- Antaresia stimsoni stimsoni (Smith, 1985).
Distribution
States
New South Wales, Northern Territory, Queensland, South Australia, Western Australia
Extra Distribution Information
From WA coast throughout western and central Australia, north to coastal NT and east through semi-arid QLD and NSW to west of the Great Dividing Range, not recorded in the southeast or along the southern coastline
Australian Endemic.
IBRA
NSW, NT, Qld, SA, WA: Arnhem Coast (ARC), Arnhem Plateau (ARP), Broken Hill Complex (BHC), Burt Plain (BRT), Central Arnhem (CA), Carnarvon (CAR), Channel Country (CHC), Central Kimberley (CK), Central Ranges (CR), Daly Basin (DAB), Darwin Coastal (DAC), Dampierland (DL), Davenport Murchison Ranges (DMR), Finke (FIN), Gascoyne (GAS), Gibson Desert (GD), Gulf Fall and Uplands (GFU), Geraldton Sandplains (GS), Great Sandy Desert (GSD), Gulf Coastal (GUC), Gulf Plains (GUP), Great Victoria Desert (GVD), Little Sandy Desert (LSD), MacDonnell Ranges (MAC), Mitchell Grass Downs (MGD), Mount Isa Inlier (MII), Mulga Lands (ML), Murchison (MUR), Northern Kimberley (NK), Ord Victoria Plain (OVP), Pine Creek (PCK), Pilbara (PIL), Simpson Strzelecki Dunefields (SSD), Stony Plains (STP), Sturt Plateau (STU), Tanami (TAN), Tiwi Cobourg (TIW), Victoria Bonaparte (VB), Yalgoo (YAL)
Ecological Descriptors
Closed forest, desert, nocturnal, open forest, oviparous, predator, tall forest, tall open shrubland, tall shrubland, woodland.
Extra Ecological Information
General carnivore, constrictor, semi-arboreal.
General References
Barnett, B. 1980. Captive breeding and a novel egg incubation technique of the Children's python (Liasis childreni). Herpetofauna 11: 15-18 (reproduction)
Dunn, R.W. 1979. Breeding Children's pythons, Liasis childreni, at Melbourne Zoo. International Zoo Yearbook 19: 89-90 (reproduction)
Sheargold, T. 1979. Notes on the reproduction of Children's pythons (Liasis childreni Gray, 1842). Herpetofauna 10: 2-4 (reproduction)
Stull, O.G. 1935. A checklist of the family Boidae. Proceedings of the Boston Society of Natural History 40: 387-408 (taxonomy)
Worrell, E. 1951. Classification of Australian Boidae. Proceedings of the Royal Society of New South Wales 1949–50: 20-25 (taxonomy)
Common Name References
CAVS 2006. Census of Australian Vertebrate Species. Australian Biological Resources Study. (Children's Python)
History of changes
| Published | As part of group | Action Date | Action Type | Compiler(s) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 07-Feb-2024 | SQUAMATA | 31-Jul-2024 | MODIFIED | |
| 04-Feb-2023 | PYTHONIDAE Fitzinger, 1826 | 30-Jan-2023 | MODIFIED | |
| 06-Sep-2017 | PYTHONIDAE Fitzinger, 1826 | 10-Feb-2017 | MODIFIED | |
| 07-Feb-2024 | SERPENTES | 27-Jan-2017 | MODIFIED | |
| 07-Feb-2024 | 22-Aug-2013 | MODIFIED | ||
| 08-Mar-2011 | 08-Mar-2011 | MODIFIED | ||
| 12-Feb-2010 | (import) |