NORTH-WEST WOMA
ASPIDITES RAMSAYI RICHARDJONESII SUBSP.
NOV.
HOLOTYPE: A specimen at the Western Australian Museum, number 34070
from near Port Hedland, WA Lat: 20° 19' Long:118° 34'.
DIAGNOSIS: Unlike A. r. ramsayi, this form usually loses the
juvenile pattern around the eyes at maturity. This is diagnostic for the
subspecies. While this trait is also diagnostic for A. r. panoptes (see
description above), the two forms are separated by a vast distance, including
most of the Pilbara region. A. r. richardjonesii is also separated
from A. r. ramsayi by distribution. To date this form is only known
from the Western edge of the Great Sandy Desert in WA. While Centralian
populations appear to have characteristics intermediate between the Easternmost
and Westernmost populations, it is likely that most specimens from the
NT and SA will eventually be assigned to the subspecies richardjonesii.
ETYMOLOGY: Named after NSW Member of Parliament, Richard Jones, for
his ongoing contributions towards wildlife conservation, integrity in government
and other matters. An honest and decent parliamentarian such as Richard
Jones is a rare thing in Australia. That is also why he isn't with a major
party.
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The above was from the paper - A revision of the Australasian Pythons.
(Originally published in Ophidia Review 1(1) in "Autumn" 2000 - (Publication date: October 2000), pp. 7-27).
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