NEW GUINEA TAIPAN Oxyuranus scutellatus canni
The New Guinea Taipan is known from locations throughout southern New Guinea (PNG and Irian Jaya) south of the central range and away from high-altitude areas. Accurate distribution data is provided by O’Shea (1996). This subspecies is separated from the others by distribution and DNA properties.
In terms of colour characteristics, the bluey-black forms including those with a russet colouration down the spine (as shown in O’Shea 1996) appear to be a distinctive characteristic of the race. However specimens from Cape York, Australia sometimes share these characteristics, albeit to a lesser degree than some of the more distinctive New Guinea specimens seen by this author.
Preferred habitat for the subspecies is similar to that of Australian Coastal Taipans - that is they prefer Savannah woodlands and open forests. The race avoids rainforests. New Guinea Taipans are also adept at moving into habitats modified by humans, including the fringes of built-up areas.
Little has been published on the captive husbandry of the New Guinea subspecies, but it is presumed to be similar in requirements to the Australian snakes.
THE ABOVE WAS ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED IN A PAPER TITLED
"AN OVERVIEW OF THE TAIPANS, GENUS (OXYURANUS) (SERPENTES:ELAPIDAE) INCLUDING THE DESCRIPTION OF A NEW SUBSPECIES".
BY RAYMOND HOSER
Originally Published in Crocodilian - Journal of the Victorian Association of Amateur Herpetologists 3(1), pages 43-50 - May 2002
To download the full text of this paper as a webpage - .
To download the original of this paper - with
photos exactly as it appeared in the journal Litteratura Serpentium -
to get the 1.28 mb pdf (Adobe Acrobat) file (it will take up to fifteen minutes to download).