First, I would like to express my frustration with the lack of explanations available to average hobbyists such as myself. I have been trying to discover what genus names such as "Liasis" and "Morelia" actually mean. I know that latin is a dead language, so there would be no such thing as latin jargon. I have stumbled upon Latin->English dictionaries, and have had no luck discovering what genus titles mean. What is in a genus? I find it hard to believe that every race of animal isn't deserving of its own genus, considering it must have anatomical differences in order to be a separate species in the first place. In Jerry Walls "Pythons of the World" book it describes the Liasis genus is a rather nebulous fashion;



"One (rarely two) enlarged loreal; head shields fully developed; supralabial row with no to three sensory pits, no more than one or two deep; glossy brown with or without small pale spots or ringed black and orange; tail not prehensile.............Liasis"



I can agree with much of this description as I have yet to handle any member of Liasis that poses any supralabial pits. One point I would have to disagree with highly is the idea that members of Liasis do not have prehensile tails. As I reached for my White Lip tonight, he wrapped tightly around my arm. As she slithered down, her tail was tightly anchored around my arm with such force as to let her entire body go, dangling its entire body. If that isn't considered prehensile, what is? Would this be the main reason why White Lips at one point had "Leiopython" to themselves? If so, why move it into Liasis territory? There seems to be a lot of people giving scientific names out like Halloween candy. And that's fine. But in what publication or book can this be broken down to a rational and DETAILED explanation? The more I read, it seems the more holes I find. Looking foward to hearing some ideas/answers.

From,

John

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