Morelia azurea MEYER, 1874

Barker, David G., Barker, Tracy M., Davis, Mark A. & Schuett, Gordon W., 2015, A review of the systematics and taxonomy of Pythonidae: an ancient serpent lineage, Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society 175 (1), pp. 1-19 : 12

Morelia azurea MEYER, 1874

The species Chondropython azureus was placed in synonymy with Chondropython viridis ( Boulenger, 1893) . The genus Chondropython was later placed in synonymy with Morelia ( Kluge, 1993) . The study of Rawlings & Donnellan (2003) identified a cryptic species of viridis that they labelled as ‘ viridis N[orth]’ on the basis of genetic divergence. Based on the accepted feminine gender of Morelia , it is necessary to correct the original azureus for gender to azurea . This species is correctly identified as azurea , as was done by Schleip & O’Shea (2010). M. azurea is the sister species to M. viridis ( Rawlings & Donnellan, 2003) .

According to Cogger, Cameron & Cogger (1983) and McDiarmid, Campbell & Touré (1999), the holotypic material for azurea consisted of three syntypes – a specimen labelled as holotype identified as ZMB 8832 and two specimens labelled as MTKD 638 and MTKD 639. However, these specimens were destroyed in World War II ( Obst, 1977).

The type locality of azurea is ‘ Kordo auf Mysore ’ [Biak] ( Schüz, 1929). According to Barbour (1912), ‘Kordo’ is Korido, a village on the south shore of Supiori; Supiori and Biak are conjoined islands, today generally considered as one island, Biak.

The recognition and use of the name azurea and the loss of the original syntypes necessitates the designation of a neotype, as follows:

Neotype – Identified as UTA-R-61633, placed in the collection of the Amphibian and Reptile Diversity Research Center at the University of Texas Arlington ; collected on Biak Island in 1990; died and preserved 1993.

Description – The neotype is an adult female. The total length is 121 cm; the tail is 17.8 cm in length. Supralabials number 15/15; with the 7 th and 8 th in contact with the orbit. The rostral has a pair of well developed thermoreceptive pits, and the anterior two supralabials on each side carry deep thermoreceptive pits, the third supralabial on each side carries a weakly defined pit ( Fig. 7 ). Infralabials number 17/17; anterior infralabial pits are not apparent; infralabial pits begin in front of the anterior margin of the eye; the pits are in infralabials 8–12/9–13 ( Fig. 8 ). Dorsal scales number 51/54/32; there are 244 ventrals and 99 + tip subcaudals.

DESCRIPTIONS AND DIAGNOSES OF Simalia AND Malayopython

Reynolds et al. (2014) added two genera to the Pythonidae . Malayopython is proposed as a replacement for the invalid name Rawlings et al. (2008) had given to the ( reticulatus + timoriensis ) clade. The second genus name, Simalia , had been entered into the literature in 1849, but placed in synonymy by Boulenger (1893); Reynolds applied the name to the amethistina clade that formerly was classified in Morelia . These additions were made obvious and necessary by the phylogeny of the pythons generated by Reynolds et al. (2014), supported by the studies of Pyron et al. (2013) and Rawlings et al. (2008). The existence of these two clades is inferred from and based on the phylogenetic analysis of genetic characters. Reynolds et al. (2014) offer a summary of taxonomic changes, but no diagnosis or morphological description is made, as here follows:

Figures

Figure 7. Lateral head illustration of the Morelia azurea neotype.

Figure 8. Dorsal head illustration of the Morelia azurea neotype.