Antaresia is a genus

Genus

In biology, a genus is a low-level taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms, which is an example of definition by genus and differentia...

 of pythons, non-venomous snakes found in Australia

Australia

Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...

. The genus in known by the common name Children's pythons, the name of the type species

Type species

In biological nomenclature, a type species is both a concept and a practical system which is used in the classification and nomenclature of animals and plants. The value of a "type species" lies in the fact that it makes clear what is meant by a particular genus name. A type species is the species...

. Gray

John Edward Gray

John Edward Gray, FRS was a British zoologist. He was the elder brother of George Robert Gray and son of the pharmacologist and botanist Samuel Frederick Gray ....

 named it in honour of his mentor, John George Children

John George Children

John George Children was a British chemist, mineralogist and zoologist.Children studied at Queens' College, Cambridge. In 1822 he was working as a librarian in the Department of Antiquities at the British Museum when he was appointed assistant keeper of the Natural History Department in succession...

, who was a curator of the zoological collection at the British Museum around that time. It contains the smallest members of Pythonidae. Currently, four species

Species

In biology, a species is one of the basic units of biological classification and a taxonomic rank. A species is often defined as a group of organisms capable of interbreeding and producing fertile offspring. While in many cases this definition is adequate, more precise or differing measures are...

 are recognized.

Species

Species	Taxon author	Common name	Geographic range
A. childreniT	(Gray John Edward Gray John Edward Gray, FRS was a British zoologist. He was the elder brother of George Robert Gray and son of the pharmacologist and botanist Samuel Frederick Gray .... , 1842)	Children's python	Australia Australia Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...  in the extreme north of Western Australia Western Australia Western Australia is a state of Australia, occupying the entire western third of the Australian continent. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Great Australian Bight and Indian Ocean to the south, the Northern Territory to the north-east and South Australia to the south-east... , the northern third of Northern Territory Northern Territory The Northern Territory is a federal territory of Australia, occupying much of the centre of the mainland continent, as well as the central northern regions... , and northeastern Queensland Queensland Queensland is a state of Australia, occupying the north-eastern section of the mainland continent. It is bordered by the Northern Territory, South Australia and New South Wales to the west, south-west and south respectively. To the east, Queensland is bordered by the Coral Sea and Pacific Ocean... . Also on the islands of the Torres Strait Torres Strait The Torres Strait is a body of water which lies between Australia and the Melanesian island of New Guinea. It is approximately wide at its narrowest extent. To the south is Cape York Peninsula, the northernmost continental extremity of the Australian state of Queensland... .
A. maculosa	(Peters Wilhelm Peters Wilhelm Karl Hartwich Peters was a German naturalist and explorer.He was assistant to Johannes Peter Müller and later curator of the Berlin Zoological Museum. In September 1842 he travelled to Mozambique via Angola. He returned to Berlin with an enormous collection of natural history specimens... , 1873)	Spotted python	Australia from the extreme north of the Cape York Peninsula Cape York Peninsula Cape York Peninsula is a large remote peninsula located in Far North Queensland at the tip of the state of Queensland, Australia, the largest unspoilt wilderness in northern Australia and one of the last remaining wilderness areas on Earth... , south through eastern Queensland to northern New South Wales New South Wales New South Wales is a state of :Australia, located in the east of the country. It is bordered by Queensland, Victoria and South Australia to the north, south and west respectively. To the east, the state is bordered by the Tasman Sea, which forms part of the Pacific Ocean. New South Wales... . Also on many islands off the coast of Queensland.
A. perthensis Antaresia perthensis Antaresia perthensis is a species of snake found in western Australia. Their common names, pygmy python and anthill python, refer to the fact that they are the smallest member of the Pythonidae family and are often found in termite mounds...	(Stull Olive Griffith Stull Olive Griffith Stull was an American herpetologist.Stull was born February 10, 1905, in Rochester, New York. She married Loy Davis in 1930, one year after completing her degree at the University of Michigan. She worked in the field of veterinary medicine and contributed to research in a variety of... , 1932)	Pygmy python	Australia in the northwest of Western Australia, including some coastal islands.
A. stimsoni Antaresia stimsoni Antaresia stimsoni is a python found in Australia. The snake is named Stimson's python in honor of A. F. Stimson of the British Museum, but is commonly and incorrectly referred to as Stimpson's python...	(L.A. Smith, 1985)	Stimson's python	Australia from the coast of Western Australia through the center of the country as far as the Great Dividing Range Great Dividing Range The Great Dividing Range, or the Eastern Highlands, is Australia's most substantial mountain range and the third longest in the world. The range stretches more than 3,500 km from Dauan Island off the northeastern tip of Queensland, running the entire length of the eastern coastline through... . Not found in the far north, extreme south or east.

*) Not including the nominate subspecies.

^T) Type species

Type species

In biological nomenclature, a type species is both a concept and a practical system which is used in the classification and nomenclature of animals and plants. The value of a "type species" lies in the fact that it makes clear what is meant by a particular genus name. A type species is the species...

.

Taxonomy

The name is taken from the star Antares

Antares

Antares is a red supergiant star in the Milky Way galaxy and the sixteenth brightest star in the nighttime sky . Along with Aldebaran, Spica, and Regulus it is one of the four brightest stars near the ecliptic...

, the 'tail' in the constellation Scorpius

Scorpius

Scorpius, sometimes known as Scorpio, is one of the constellations of the zodiac. Its name is Latin for scorpion, and its symbol is . It lies between Libra to the west and Sagittarius to the east...

. The genus name was created in 1984 by Wells and Wellington in a revision of Children's pythons, those previously described as a single species in the genus Liasis

Liasis

Liasis is a genus of non-venomous pythons found in Indonesia, New Guinea and Australia. Currently, 3 extant species are recognized and one fossil species L. dubudingala -Geographic range:...

. Despite a petition to suppress the taxonomic work of these authors, it gained wide acceptance and publication in 1991.

Four species

Species

In biology, a species is one of the basic units of biological classification and a taxonomic rank. A species is often defined as a group of organisms capable of interbreeding and producing fertile offspring. While in many cases this definition is adequate, more precise or differing measures are...

 are currently recognized in the genus Antaresia, which is contained by the family Pythonidae; infraspecific ranks have also been described.

A subspecies, A. stimsoni orientalis was described by L.A. Smith (1985), but was not recognized as valid by Barker & Barker (1994). A new subspecies, A. maculosa brentonoloughlini was described by Hoser

Raymond Hoser

Raymond Terrence Hoser is an Australian herpetologist, snake-catcher, and author. Since 1976 he has written books and articles about official corruption in Australia. He has also authored works on Australian frogs and reptiles and operates a snake handling business, Snakebusters, in Melbourne...

(2003).

External links

• Antaresia.com. Four antaresia subspecies information.
• Antaresia.info. Accessed 13 November 2007.