Highland copperhead explained

The highland copperhead (Austrelaps ramsayi), also known as Ramsay's copperhead, is a species of venomous snake in the family Elapidae endemic to Australia.

Taxonomy

Gerard Krefft described the highland copperhead in 1864 as Hoplocephalus ramsayi from a specimen collected in Braidwood, New South Wales.^[1] The specific name, ramsayi, is in honour of Edward Pierson Ramsay, who was an Australian ornithologist, herpetologist,^[2] and who collected the holotype specimen.^[1]

Description

Austrelaps ramsayi has an average total length (including tail) of 130 cm (51 inches). Variable in colour, ranging from pale to dark grey, through reddish-brown or chocolate brown to almost black above but always low gloss or matt sheen; noticeably enlarged lateral scales may be cream, yellow or reddish-brown (typically yellow paraventral scales bordered above by reddish-brown); while the supralabial (upper lip) scales are strongly barred, the pale, triangular lower front corner of each labial strongly contrasting with the remainder of the scale, which is dark brown. Belly cream to pale yellow or sometimes leaden-coloured.

Distribution and habitat

The highlands copperhead inhabits the Alpine regions of eastern Australia, and is common in the Southern Highlands of NSW, including Mittagong, Bowral and Moss Vale.

A. ramsayi is found in montane heath, woodland, sclerophyll forests, along water bodies, and in swampy areas with thick clumps of tussock grass.^[3]

Reproduction

Austrelaps ramsayi is ovoviviparous, with between 9 and 31 young per brood.^[4]

Further reading

• Boulenger GA (1896). Catalogue of the Snakes in the British Museum (Natural History). Volume III. Containing the Colubridæ (Opisthoglyphæ and Proteroglyphæ) ... London: Trustees of the British Museum (Natural History). (Taylor and Francis, printers). xiv + 727 pp. + Plates I-XXV. (Denisonia ramsayi, new combination, p. 338).
• Cogger HG (2014). Reptiles and Amphibians of Australia, Seventh Edition. Clayton, Victoria, Australia: CSIRO Publishing. xxx + 1,033 pp. .
• Rawlinson, Peter Alan (1991). "Taxonomy and distribution of the Australian tiger snakes (Notechis) and copperheads (Austrelaps) (Serpentes, Elapidae)". Proc. Royal Soc. Victoria 103 (2): 125–135. (Austrelaps ramsayi, new combination).
• Wilson, Steve; Swan, Gerry (2013). A Complete Guide to Reptiles of Australia, Fourth Edition. Sydney: New Holland Publishers. 522 pp. .

Notes and References

1. Krefft G. 1864. Description of Three New Species of Australian Snakes. Proceedings of the Zoological Society of London. 1864. 180–182. (Hoplocephalus ramsayi, new species, pp. 180-181).
2. Beolens, Bo; Watkins, Michael; Grayson, Michael (2011). The Eponym Dictionary of Reptiles. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press. xiii + 296 pp. . (Austrelaps ramsayi, p. 216).
3. Web site: Archived copy . 2010-09-21 . 2011-03-20 . https://web.archive.org/web/20110320121841/http://www.environment.nsw.gov.au/resources/threatenedspecies/07227tpagssch6pt2.pdf . dead .
4. Web site: Highlands copperhead (Austrelaps ramsayi) at the Australian Reptile Online Database | AROD.com.au . 2012-04-06 . 2012-03-19 . https://web.archive.org/web/20120319161425/http://www.arod.com.au/arod/reptilia/Squamata/Elapidae/Austrelaps/ramsayi . dead .