Animal: Austrelaps spp., Australian copperheads
Species
- Austrelaps labialis
- Austrelaps ramsayi
- Austrelaps superbus
Up to the 1990s these three species were all included under A. superbus.
Taxonomy
Common names
Australian copperheads, Diamond snakes, Australischer Kupferköpfe
- Adelaide Hills copperhead
- Highlands copperhead
- Common copperhead
Distribution
See link "Distribution" at the top of the page for detailed information.
Southeastern Australia.
Austrelaps spp.
Biology
Of the Australian snakes, copperheads are the best adapted to a cold climate. Their habitats range from low-lying swamps to subalpine regions of Victoria and Tasmania.
These animals are diurnal and can reach a length of 1.2–1.7 m. When approached, they hiss loudly and flatten their neck. Nonetheless, they are not very willing to defend themselves and when truly threatened often only engage in mock bites (darting forwards without biting).
Risk
Their short venom fangs, small available quantities of venom and the moderate potency of their venom are factors which place this species towards the bottom of the list of the most dangerous Australian snakes. Envenoming is rare and only isolated cases have been described.
Literature (biological)
Cogger 1986, Mirtschin et al. 1990, Sutherland 1983, White 1995a, O'Shea 2005