Pygmy mulga snake

The pygmy mulga snake (Pseudechis weigeli), also commonly known as the pygmy king brown snake,[2] is a species of venomous snake in the black snake genus Pseudechis in the family Elapidae. The species is native to Australia.

Pygmy mulga snake
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Reptilia
Order:	Squamata
Suborder:	Serpentes
Family:	Elapidae
Genus:	Pseudechis
Species:	P. weigeli
Binomial name
Pseudechis weigeli (Wells & Wellington, 1987)
Synonyms[1]
Cannia weigeli Wells & Wellington, 1987 Pseudechis weigeli — Wüster et al., 2004

Geographic range

In Australia P. weigeli is endemic to the Kimberley ranges.[1]

Taxonomy

P. weigeli was genetically confirmed as a distinct species in 2017.[3] Within the genus Pseudechis it is most closely related to the eastern dwarf mulga snake and an as yet undescribed species from the Northern Territory.[3]

Etymology

The specific name, weigeli, is in honor of Australian herpetologist John Randall Weigel (born 1955).[2]

References

1. "Pseudechis weigeli ". The Reptile Database. www.reptile-database.org.
2. Beolens, Bo; Watkins, Michael; Grayson, Michael (2011). The Eponym Dictionary of Reptiles. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press. xiii + 296 pp. ISBN 978-1-4214-0135-5. (Pseudechis weigeli, p. 281).
3. Maddock ST, Childerstone A, Fry BG, Williams DJ, Barlow A, Wüster W (2017). "Multi-locus phylogeny and species delimitation of Australo-Papuan blacksnakes (Pseudechis Wagler, 1830: Elapidae: Serpentes)" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2016-12-20. Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 107: 48–55.

Further reading

• Wells RW, Wellington CR (1987). "A new species of proteroglyphous snake (Serpentes: Oxyuranidae) from Australia". Australian Herpetologist (503): 1-8. (Cannia weigeli, new species).