Morelia (snake)

Morelia is a genus of large snakes in the family Pythonidae. The genus is native to Australia, Indonesia, and New Guinea. As of 2024, up to eight species are recognized.^[3]

Morelia
Morelia spilota
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Reptilia
Order:	Squamata
Suborder:	Serpentes
Family:	Pythonidae
Subfamily:	Pythoninae
Genus:	Morelia Gray, 1842
Synonyms
Morelia Gray, 1842 Simalia Gray, 1849 Chondropython Meyer, 1874 Aspidopython Meyer, 1874 Hypaspistes Ogilby, 1919 Australiasis Wells & Wellington, 1984 Nyctophylopython Wells & Wellington, 1984[1] Montypythonoides M.J. Smith & Plane, 1985[2]

Snakes in the genus Morelia are generally arboreal to semiarboreal, spending much of their lives in the forest canopy. Although exceptions occur, most may attain an adult total length (including tail) of 2–3 m (6.6–9.8 ft).

Geographic range

Morelia species are found from Indonesia in the Maluku Islands, east through New Guinea, including the Bismarck Archipelago, and in Australia.^[1]

Species

The following seven species are recognized as being valid.^[4]

Species[3]	IUCN Status[5]	Taxon author[3]	Subsp.*[3]	Common name	Geographic range[1]
M. azurea		(Meyer, 1874)	2	Green tree python; northern green tree python	Papua New Guinea (Biak, Numfor and Supiori in the Schouten Islands group of Cenderawasih Bay)
M. bredli		(Gow, 1981)	0	Bredl's python; Centralian python	Australia, in the mountains of the southern Northern Territory
M. carinata		(L.A. Smith, 1981)	0	Rough-scaled python	Australia, northwestern Western Australia in the lower sections of the Mitchell and Hunter Rivers, just inland from the coast
M. imbricata		(L.A. Smith, 1981)	0	Southwestern carpet python	New Guinea, Australia (New South Wales, the Northern Territory, Queensland, South Australia, Victoria, Western Australia)
M. spilotaT	LC[6] LR/nt[7]	(Lacépède, 1804)	5	Carpet python; diamond python	Indonesia (southern Western New Guinea in Merauke Regency), Papua New Guinea (the southern Western Province, the Port Moresby area of Central Province and on Yule Island) and Australia (excluding much of the center and northwest of the country)
M. viridis	LC[8]	(Schlegel, 1872)	0	Green tree python; southern green tree python	Indo/Papuan: Indonesia (Misool, Salawati, the Aru Islands, the Schouten Islands, most of Western New Guinea), Papua New Guinea (including nearby islands from sea level to 1,800 m elevation, Normanby Island and the d'Entrecasteaux Islands) Australian: Queensland along the eastern coast of the Cape York Peninsula
M. riversleighensis†		(M.J. Smith & Plane, 1985)	0	n/a	Extinct, remains found in Queensland, Australia

• ) Not including the nominate subspecies.

^T) Type species.^[1]

Hybrids

• Morelia spilota X viridis ^{[citation needed]}