Chondropython viridis shireenae Hoser, 2004

Schleip, Wulf D. & O'Shea, Mark, 2010, Annotated checklist of the recent and extinct pythons (Serpentes, Pythonidae), with notes on nomenclature, taxonomy, and distribution, ZooKeys 66, pp. 29-80 : 41

Chondropython viridis shireenae Hoser, 2004 [synonym of Morelia viridis]

Holotype:

NMV D51862.

Type locality:

Cape York, Queensland, Australia.

Remarks:

Hoser (2004) stated that the "white or other markings along the vertebra" are not diagnostic for this subspecies, but that "a very thin line or line of dots along the spine" is "generally a diagnostic trait for adults of this subspecies", although the author further states, that he had seen specimens with and without such markings. Furthermore, he noticed that "vertebral markings decline with age". With the latter comments, the author himself invalidated the utility of vertebral markings as a diagnostic character. In the absence of other characters, this taxon is apparently indistinguishable from the nominate form. Furthermore, as demonstrated by Rawlings and Donnellan (2003: 36), "all of the Australian haplotypes, which form a single lineage, are nested among the southern New Guinean haplotypes". We therefore placed this taxon in the synonymy of Morelia viridis (see comments there).