Gents, this is an interesting one and a topic that put me in strife from all sides and one that's been raised in e-mails again of late.
In my papers of 1998-and later I used the name as given by Wells and Wellington for the NW West Australian Death Adders.
Ken Aplin and others slated me for doing so, claiming the name to be nomen nudem on the basis that Wells and Wellington failed to provide a diagnosis of the species in the form as required under ICZN rules.
Another variable of note is the similarity of this taxa to the New Guinean/Irian Jayan A. rugosa which some claim is the same species and hence gets priority as per the ICZN's rules over A. lancasteri, the latter being a synonym of the former.
Then there's the NT subspecies named in 1998 as A. l. bottomi, which Aplin says should be applied to the Australian specimens assigned to A. lancasteri. - in iother words, A. bottomi.
What do the others here think (please provide a substantive basis for your thoughts).
ALL THE BEST

Death Adder Taxonomy

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