Central Ranges taipan

The Central Ranges taipan, or Western Desert taipan (Oxyuranus temporalis), is a species of taipan that was described in 2007 by Australian researchers Paul Doughty, Brad Maryan, Stephen Donnellan, and Mark Hutchinson.[2] Taipans are large, fast, extremely venomous Australasian snakes. The Central Ranges taipan was named one of the top-five new species of 2007 by the International Institute for Species Exploration at Arizona State University.[3]

Central Ranges taipan
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Reptilia
Order: Squamata
Suborder: Serpentes
Family: Elapidae
Genus: Oxyuranus
Species:
O. temporalis
Binomial name
Oxyuranus temporalis
Doughty, Maryan, Donnellan & Hutchinson, 2007

Discovery
See also: Snakes of Australia

Dr. Mark Hutchinson, reptile and amphibian curator at the South Australian Museum, caught the immature female taipan while it was crossing a dirt track on a sunny afternoon. The reptile was about 1.0 m (39 inches) in total length (body and tail), but because taipan species are among the most venomous snakes in the world, Hutchinson did not inspect the creature on site. He bagged the snake and sent it, along with others captured from the trip, to the Western Australian Museum in Perth for closer inspection.[4]

Two weeks later, the new species was studied. At first, it was tentatively identified as a western brown snake because of the similar size and colouring; several weeks later, however, Western Australia Museum reptile collection manager Brad Maryan noticed the now-preserved snake had a large, pale head similar to the coastal taipan.[5]

The holotype, nicknamed "Scully" after the X-Files TV character, is an immature snake about 1 m long, which means that scientists do not know the true adult size of the species, though some taipans can reach a total length of about 3 m (about 10 ft).[5] This is the first new taipan species to be discovered in 125 years.[6]

New species

O. temporalis differs from its two congeneric species O. scutellatus and O. microlepidotus in lacking a temporolabial scale and having six rather than seven infralabial scales. Phylogenetic analysis of mtDNA sequences showed it to be the sister species of the two previously known taipans.[7]

Venom

The two other described species of Oxyuranus are among the most venomous land snakes in the world - O. microlepidotus ranked the most venomous land snake and O. scutellatus the third-most venomous after Pseudonaja textilis.[5] The new species, O. temporalis, has a LD50 measured on mice to be 0.075 mg/Kg, making it likely to be extremely dangerous to a human if bitten, albeit less toxic than the inland taipan, which was found by the same study to have a LD50 of 0.0225 mg/Kg.[8]

2010 Rediscovery

In May 2010, a second specimen of O. temporalis was found in the Great Victoria Desert of Western Australia. The adult female taipan measuring 1.3 m (4.3 ft) in total length was captured by the Spinifex people from the Tjuntjuntjara Aboriginal community during a biological study at Ilkurlka, 165 km west of the South Australian border, 425 km south of the location of the initial discovery.[9]

References
  1. Shea, G.; Ellis, R.; Oliver, P. (2017). "Oxyuranus temporalis". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2017: e.T42493183A42493187. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2017-3.RLTS.T42493183A42493187.en. Retrieved 20 November 2021.
  2. Doughty; et al. (2007). "A new species of taipan (Elapidae: Oxyuranus) from central Australia" (PDF). www.mapress.com/zootaxa. Retrieved 2008-06-19.
  3. Top 10 new species of 2008: Oxyuranus temporalis. Archived 2009-04-30 at the Wayback Machine International Institute for Species Exploration. Arizona State University.
  4. Carday, Todd (2007-03-09). "New species of taipan found". Science and Nature. The Australian. Archived from the original on 2008-09-15. Retrieved 2008-06-19.
  5. Amalfi, Carmelo (2007-03-12). "REPTILE experts from the WA Museum have discovered a female taipan new to science living in the remote central ranges of outback WA". New species of taipan found in central WA. Science Network Western Australia. Archived from the original on 2008-07-26. Retrieved 2008-06-19.
  6. Williams, Brian (2007-03-10). "Taipan species discovered". Courier Mail. Queensland Newspapers. Retrieved 2008-06-19.
  7. "Oxyuranus temporalis - Central Ranges taipan". Elapidae - 2007 Publications. Wolfgang Wüster, School of Biological Sciences, University of Wales, Bangor. 2007. Archived from the original on 2007-12-10. Retrieved 2008-06-19.
  8. Carmel M. Barber, Frank Madaras, Richard K. Turnbull, Terry Morley, Nathan Dunstan, Luke Allen, Tim Kuchel, Peter Mirtschin and Wayne C. Hodgson 2014. Comparative Studies of the Venom of a New Taipan Species, Oxyuranus temporalis, with Other Members of Its Genus. Toxins Vol. 6
  9. "Rare, and deadly, snake found in WA desert". WA News. WA Today. 2010-07-16. Retrieved 2010-07-16.
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