Simoselaps bertholdi

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.

Simoselaps bertholdi
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Reptilia
Order:	Squamata
Suborder:	Serpentes
Family:	Elapidae
Genus:	Simoselaps
Species:	S. bertholdi
Binomial name
Simoselaps bertholdi (Jan, 1859)
Synonyms[1]
Elaps bertholdi Jan, 1859 Vermicella bertholdi — Ogilby, 1891 Elaps mattozoi Ferreira, 1891 Furina robusta De Vis, 1905 Rhynchelaps bertholdi — Thomson, 1934 Simoselaps bertholdi — Mengden, 1983

Etymology

The specific epithet bertholdi honours German physician and naturalist Arnold Adolph Berthold.^[1][2]

Description

S. bertholdi grows to an average total length (including tail) of 30 cm (12 in).^[3]

Reproduction

S. bertholdi is oviparous,^[1] with an average clutch size of four.^[3]

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.^[3]