Poisonous Snok»s o^ (he World 



sptH'ics Imvo vtTV sliorl fanjjs llmt iiiiiy Iw difliciilt 

 lo ilistiii>;iiisli f II nil I lie otlii-r I colli imli'ss :i iiiiiin 

 S(-o|Hi is ill liiiiul. 



Kliipid simkes typiciilly l;ii'k a sialo on I ho 

 siilo of iho faco (loroal) wliicli most coliilnul 

 snakes Imvo. Tliis nioaiis that only '2 scah-s lie 

 iK'twoeii the nostril luul the eye instead of ilio I! 

 tliat iiro se»Mi in most linnnless siinkes. (A low 

 kinds, e.p., (rh/phodon. on nu"e occasions lia\o a 

 vortical siitufo throu<ih the jifeoctdar, forming a 

 "loreal.") Any snake that lacks tliis scale should 

 Ih> viewed with snsi)icioii. F<>rtiin;»tely, too, a 

 rather lar<;e proportion of iho harmless snakes 

 of this region are pythons, boas, blind snakes, or 

 hiflhly specialized water snakes. These are much 

 easier to distingviish from elapids than are the 



cohibcids, which arc (ho most lomiiioii Miakes 

 els«'\vhorti (Son Cliaplor \' I ) . 



It is worth romomlu'rinj^, loo, lliat aliiio.-%l all 

 of |||(^ danfjei-ously poisonous kinds of snakes in 

 I his roj^ion livii on the iji-oiiiul. Only the Aus- 

 Iralian broad-headed snakes (/Io///ocr//h(ilii.'i), 

 amoiifj poisonous species, are adajjted for life in 

 the trees and llioy are not considered hif^hly 

 danf^erous. Otherwise, only the tiper snake of 

 southern Australia has been reported to climb 

 into low bushes. There are no highly specialized 

 dangerous tree snakes such as the mambas of 

 Africa or the tree viiiers of southeast Asia and 

 tropical America. There -ah' many .species of 

 burrowing elapids in Australia, but none appears 

 to be highly dangerous. 



KEY TO GENERA 



1. A. Tail paddle-shaped 2 



B. Tail not paddle-.shaped 3 



•2. A. Xo enlarged crown shields NP* 



B. At least some eidarged crown shields Sea snakes 



(.we Chapter VIII) 



.3. A. Dorsal scales smooth; no trace of a keel 6 



B. Dorsal scales with a distinct keel 4 



4. A. Pjve sei)arated from upper labials by a row of 



small subocular scales; pupil elliptical Acanfhophifi 



B. Eye touching upper labials; pupil round 5 



5. A. Dorsal scales roughly keeled; fewer than 220 



ventrals Tropidechis 



B. Dorsal scales with a low keel ; more than 220 



ventrals Oxytirmms 



6. A. ^'entrals extend full width of belly 7 



B. Ventrals extend half the width of the belly or less NP 



7. A. Ventrals with a lateral keel and notch Floplocephahis 



B. Ventrals rounded; no keel or notch 8 



8. A. Eye with a round pupil 12 



B. Eye with an elliptical pupil 9 



9. A. Only six lower labials Apistocalanms 



B. Seven or more lower labials 10 



10. A. Anal plate divided; subcaudals paired throughout Asptdomorphus 



11 Anal plate entire; at least some subcaudals single 11 



11. A. More than 18 rows of dorsals, slightly oblique at 



midbody Brrichi/aspi-i 



B. Fewer than 18 rows of dorsals, not oblique at 



midbody Denisonia 



*NP — Non poisonous 



144 



