Simoselaps bertholdi explained

Simoselaps bertholdi, also known commonly as Jan's banded snake or the southern desert banded snake, is a species of burrowing mildly venomous snake in the family Elapidae. The species is endemic to Australia.

Etymology

The specific epithet bertholdi honours German physician and naturalist Arnold Adolph Berthold.^[1]

Description

S. bertholdi grows to an average total length (including tail) of 30cm (10inches).^[2]

Reproduction

S. bertholdi is oviparous, with an average clutch size of four.^[2]

Distribution and habitat

The geographic range of S. bertholdi covers a broad swathe of arid inland Australia from central and western South Australia and the south-west of the Northern Territory, westwards across Western Australia to the western coast of the continent.^[2]

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. (Rhynchelaps bertholdi, pp. 362–363).
• Cogger HG (2014). Reptiles and Amphibians of Australia, Seventh Edition. Clayton, Victoria, Australia: CSIRO Publishing. xxx + 1,033 pp. .
• Jan [G] (1859). "Plan d'une Iconographie descriptive des Ophidiens et Description sommaire de nouvelles espèces de Serpents ". Revue et Magasin de Zoologie Pure et Appliquée, Paris, Series 2, 11: 122–130. (Elaps bertholdi, new species, p. 123). (in French).
• Wilson S, Swan G (2013). A Complete Guide to Reptiles of Australia, Fourth Edition. Sydney: New Holland Publishers. 522 pp. .

Notes and References

1. [Richard Allen "Bo" Crombet-Beolens|Beolens B]
2. Web site: Jan's banded snake. . Australian Reptile Online Database . Stewart Macdonald . 25 May 2021.