AUSTRALIAN TIGER SNAKES AND COPPERHEADS 
127 
lar, both features characteristic of the highlands 
and dwarf forms of the copperhead but not of the 
lowlands form. The dwarf form is shorter- 
bodied than the highlands form, having 135— 
148 ventrals (mean 141, n = 30; one specimen 
with 157), whereas the highlands form has ven¬ 
tral counts of 150-160 (mean 156.8. n = 30). 
The ventral count of 136 reported by Jan (1859) 
ford, labialis could therefore apply only to the 
dwarf form. Thus, in the absence of any other 
available name, the correct name for the dwarf 
form is Austrelaps labialis (Jan, 1859). 
In order to stabilise the name, specimen SAM 
R26414, a female, from Islet 477, Pelican 
Lagoon, Kangaroo Island, South Australia, is 
here designated as neotype. The neotype has the 
following taxonomically significant features. 
Midbody scale rows 15. Ventrals 139. Anal sin¬ 
gle. Subcaudals 43, entire, excepting the last 
three which are divided. Lower anterior tem¬ 
poral well separated from lower of two postocu- 
lars on each side. Supralabials 6/6. Colour very 
dark brown dorsally, the lateralmost scales grey- 
white with a dark trailing edge, the size and con¬ 
trast of the pale area decreasing posteriorly and 
becoming uniformly dark by midbody. Venter 
l. Distribution of Austrelaps. 
