''Paroplocephalus'' is a

genus Genus (; : genera ) is a taxonomic rank above species and below family (taxonomy), family as used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In bino ...

venomous snake ''Venomous snakes'' are species of the suborder Serpentes that are capable of producing venom, which they use for killing prey, for defense, and to assist with digestion of their prey. The venom is typically delivered by injection using hollow ...

in the

family Family (from ) is a Social group, group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or Affinity (law), affinity (by marriage or other relationship). It forms the basis for social order. Ideally, families offer predictabili ...

Elapidae Elapidae (, commonly known as elapids , from , variant of "sea-fish") is a family of snakes characterized by their permanently erect fangs at the front of the mouth. Most elapids are venomous, with the exception of the genus '' Emydocephalus ...

. The genus is

monotypic In biology, a monotypic taxon is a taxonomic group (taxon) that contains only one immediately subordinate taxon. A monotypic species is one that does not include subspecies or smaller, infraspecific taxa. In the case of genera, the term "unisp ...

, containing only the

species A species () is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate sexes or mating types can produce fertile offspring, typically by sexual reproduction. It is the basic unit of Taxonomy (biology), ...

''Paroplocephalus atriceps'', the Lake Cronin snake. The species is

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found only in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also foun ...

to western

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

. A poorly known species, its diet includes

lizard Lizard is the common name used for all Squamata, squamate reptiles other than snakes (and to a lesser extent amphisbaenians), encompassing over 7,000 species, ranging across all continents except Antarctica, as well as most Island#Oceanic isla ...

s. It is active during the night and day, and is possibly arboreal. The largest specimen is recorded as in total length (including tail), from snout to vent. The head is dull black, the eyes large, and the lower lip white-barred. The body is brown to dark brown

dorsally Standard anatomical terms of location are used to describe unambiguously the anatomy of humans and other animals. The terms, typically derived from Latin or Greek roots, describe something in its standard anatomical position. This position provi ...

, a lighter reddish brown beneath, and has non-shiny scales. A common name derives from the type locality,

Lake Cronin Lake Cronin is an ephemeral freshwater lake in the Shire of Kondinin as part of the Great Western Woodlands in the Wheatbelt region of Western Australia located approximately east of the town of Hyden and about east south east of Perth. Th ...

, an inland body of water in

Western Australia Western Australia (WA) is the westernmost state of Australia. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to the south, the Northern Territory to the north-east, and South Australia to the south-east. Western Aust ...

. It is

to the wheatbelt region, the few specimens being recorded at this locality and another 145 kilometres (90 miles) east at Peak Eleanora.

Taxonomy

''Paroplocephalus atriceps'' is known from only five specimens, all collected from the vicinity of Lake Cronin. Its taxonomic history is extremely confused. When first described by

Glen Milton Storr Dr. Glen Milton Storr (27 December 1921 – 26 June 1990) was an Australian ornithologist Ornithology, from Ancient Greek ὄρνις (''órnis''), meaning "bird", and -logy from λόγος (''lógos''), meaning "study", is a branch of zoolo ...

in 1980, it was placed in the genus ''Brachyaspis'', but only tentatively, because Storr recognised an urgent need for taxonomic revision of the Australian elapids. By this time it had been realised that ''Brachyaspis'' was not an available genus name because it had previously been published as the name of a genus of

trilobite Trilobites (; meaning "three-lobed entities") are extinction, extinct marine arthropods that form the class (biology), class Trilobita. One of the earliest groups of arthropods to appear in the fossil record, trilobites were among the most succ ...

; plus in fact another name, ''

Echiopsis ''Echiopsis curta'' is a terrestrial, elapid species of snake, also commonly known from the Aboriginal name as the bardick. It is a short, highly venomous snake with variable color which is mainly nocturnal, reaching a maximum length of 57 ...

'', had priority. However Storr regarded ''Echiopsis'' as a ''

nomen oblitum In zoological nomenclature, a ''nomen oblitum'' (plural: ''nomina oblita''; Latin for "forgotten name") is a disused scientific name which has been declared to be obsolete (figuratively "forgotten") in favor of another "protected" name. In its pr ...

'', a disused name so archaic that it was not worth reinstating. He therefore persisted with ''Brachyaspis'' in the short term. In 1982 he transferred the genus into ''Notechis'', but explicitly excluded ''B. atriceps'' from consideration because its affinities were then so uncertain. The following year the species was included in the ''

Zoological Catalogue of Australia Zoology ( , ) is the scientific study of animals. Its studies include the structure, embryology, classification, habits, and distribution of all animals, both living and extinction">extinct, and how they interact with their ecosystems. Zoolo ...

'' under the name ''Echiopsis atriceps'', and the year after that Storr transferred it into ''

Denisonia ''Denisonia'' is a genus of venomous snakes in the family Elapidae. The genus is endemic to Australia, and contains two recognized species. Species The following two species are recognized as being valid. *'' Denisonia devisi'' – De Vis's b ...

''. Storr's circumscription of ''Denisonia'' included several species that were traditionally placed in ''

Suta Suta, Sūta, Šuta or Şuţa may refer to: People * Šuta, Egyptian commissioner * Jocelino Suta, French rugby union player * Khassaraporn Suta, Thai weightlifter * Miroslav Šuta, Czech environmental expert and writer Places * Şuta, a village ...

'', and in 1993 Philippe Golay took the logical next step and transferred all of these, including ''D. atriceps'', into ''Suta''. In 2000, a

phylogenetic In biology, phylogenetics () is the study of the evolutionary history of life using observable characteristics of organisms (or genes), which is known as phylogenetic inference. It infers the relationship among organisms based on empirical dat ...

analysis of Australian elapids rejected all previous taxonomic arrangements for this species, instead finding strong support for placement as a sister group to ''

Hoplocephalus ''Hoplocephalus'' is a genus of venomous snakes in the family Elapidae. The genus is endemic to Australia. Three species are recognized. Taxonomy The genus name ''Hoplocephalus'' was originally coined for the king cobra by Johann Georg Wagler ...

'', within the "tiger snake lineage" comprising ''

Notechis The tiger snake (''Notechis scutatus'') is a large and highly venomous snake of southern Australia, including its coastal islands and Tasmania. These snakes are often observed and locally well known by their banding, black and yellow like a ti ...

'', ''

Austrelaps ''Austrelaps'' is a genus of venomous elapid snakes native to the relatively fertile, temperate, southern and eastern part of the Australian continent. Three species are currently recognized, with no subspecies. They are commonly called copperhea ...

'', '' Tropidechis'' and ''

''. It would have been taxonomically consistent with this finding to transfer ''atriceps'' into ''Hoplocephalus'', but ''Hoplocephalus'' was then morphologically well-defined and it would have been difficult to redefine it to encompass the extra species. The option of merging other sister groups into a single large genus was also rejected, leaving the only option the recognition of ''atriceps'' as a monotypic genus. The genus name chosen was ''Paroplocephalus'', from the Greek ''para'' ("beside") and ''-plocephalus'' referring to the sister genus ''Hoplocephalus''. Thus the genus name recognised "the close relationship and morphological similarity between the two genera". According to the ''

Australian Faunal Directory The Australian Faunal Directory is an online catalogue of taxonomic and biological information on all animal species known to occur within Australia. It is a database produced by the Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water ...

'', this remains the accepted name for the genus.

References

Bush, Brian (2017) "Additions to the description of ''Paroplocephalus atriceps'' (Serpentes: Elapidae) with a discussion on pupil shape in it and other Australian snakes."'' Zootaxa'' 4344 (2): 333-344. http://dx.doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.4344.2.8 {{Taxonbar, from1=Q16896632, from2=Q2711762 Reptiles of Western Australia Elapidae Vulnerable fauna of Australia Endemic fauna of Australia Monotypic snake genera Reptiles described in 1980 Taxonomy articles created by Polbot Snakes of Australia Endemic fauna of Southwest Australia