Aspidites

Aspidites is a genus of pythons endemic to Australia. The name can be translated as "shield bearer" and pertains to the symmetrically shaped head scales. Currently, two species are recognized.^[2]

Aspidites
Black-headed python, Aspidites melanocephalus
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Reptilia
Order:	Squamata
Suborder:	Serpentes
Family:	Pythonidae
Subfamily:	Pythoninae
Genus:	Aspidites W. Peters, 1877
Synonyms
Aspidiotes Krefft, 1864 Aspidiotus W. Peters, 1876 Aspidites W. Peters, 1877[1]

Description

These snakes lack the heat-sensitive pits between the labial scales that most other python species have.^{[citation needed]}

The head is slightly wider than the neck, and the eyes are small, with a vertically elliptic pupils.^[3]

Distribution and habitat

They are found in Australia except in the south of the country.^[1]

Behavior

Both species are nocturnal,^[4] and terrestrial.^[5]

Reproduction

Oviparous, the females stay with their eggs until they hatch.

Species

Species[2]	Taxon author[2]	Common name[4]	Geographic range[1]
A. melanocephalusT	(Krefft, 1864)	Black-headed python	Australia in the northern half of the country, excluding the very arid regions.
A. ramsayi	(Macleay, 1882)	Woma python	Australia in the west and center of the country: from Western Australia through southern Northern Territory and northern South Australia to southern Queensland and northwestern New South Wales. Its range may be discontinuous.

^T) Type species.^[1]

Taxonomy

Two new subspecies, A. ramsayi panoptes, the western woma python, and A. r. richardjonesii, the desert woma python, were described by Hoser (2001).^[6] However, these descriptions are questionable, as they do not include proper diagnoses and seem to be based only on distribution.^{[6] [7]}