I think you might be missing the real issues of why snakes, or any animals, are classified the way they are. Death adders, Acanthopis spp., aren't classified as elapids solely because they occur in Australia and no other viperids occur there. No, death adders are elapids because, well, they are elapids. In other words, their phylogenetic lineage is that of an elapid, and they are most likely quite closely related to the other elapids found on Australia and New Guinea. Thankfully, scientists no longer go by solely superficial aspects of an animal to classify it, such as physical features. But even if they did, death adders would be missing one major component for being a viper: fixed fangs. Okay, so they do have a bit of mobility in their fangs, but they aren't hinged like all vipers' fangs are. The other aspects you named off could also be applied to several other elapids as well, depending on one's own point of view. The reason Acanthopis is so viper-like is because they've spent the last several million years evolving to fit the niche that vipers fill in other parts of the world. Since there are no vipers in Australia, an elapid could diverge and adopt several of the well-known viper-like traits and be successful. Anyway, it's a good question, and there are probably other people wondering the same thing.
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Chance Duncan
www.rivervalleyexotics.com

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