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THE AUSTRALIAN (Sydney, Australia) 09 March 07 New species of taipan found (Todd Cardy)
Australian researchers have found a new species of taipan snake slithering in the outback.
Similar to the western brown snake, the still unnamed species was discovered during an expedition to a remote region about 200km northwest of Uluru in September last year.
Dr Mark Hutchinson, reptile and amphibian curator at the South Australian Museum, caught the immature female taipan while it was crossing a dirt track.
He said the reptile was about one metre long but, because it was one of the most venomous snakes in the world, he did not inspect the creature on site.
Dr Hutchinson was part of a research group from the South Australian and West Australian museums that was in isolated outback region to make the first scientific inventory of the area's animal and plant species.
Dr Hutchinson said he bagged the snake and sent it, along with others captured from the trip, to the Western Australian Museum in Perth for closer inspection.
It was not until two weeks later that the new species was studied.
"It was a bit of a surprise," Dr Hutchinson said.
"In fact I found it really hard to believe at first.
"This isn't the 19th century – you usually don't find a new species that big out in the open, well not in Australia."
The two known species of taipan are not found in sandy desert habitats, with the closest family members to the new discovery recorded some 800km away.
The inland taipan was the last taipan reported in the region – and that was seen more than 125 years ago.
Dr Hutchinson said the discovery demonstrated the incredible diversity of the Australian outback.
He said he expected other undiscovered species to be out there as well.
He said further tests were now underway and a paper would soon be published outlining the new discovery.
WA Museum herpetologist Paul Doughty said the reptile was named the Central Ranges Taipan, or Oxyuranus temporalis, and was likely to be extremely venomous. "But we won't know just how venomous until more of them are caught and the venom tested," Dr Doughty said.
"Australia has the world's most deadly snakes, of which the taipans are the most charismatic and notorious.''
New species of taipan found

THE ADVERTISER (Adelaide, Australia) 10 March 07 New deadly species found (Clare Peddie)
(AAP) A new species of the world's most venomous snake, the taipan, has been discovered.
The central ranges taipan was found in the central desert of Western Australia but its habitat could extend into the Northern Territory and South Australia.
Dr Mark Hutchinson, from the SA Museum, caught the snake crossing a dirt track on a sunny afternoon during a survey of the Ngaanyatjarra lands late last year. The find was announced yesterday. Laboratory analysis at the WA Museum, and DNA testing at the SA Museum, confirmed it was a new species.
Professor Steve Donnellan, who conducted the DNA tests, says this find has real significance.
"Its DNA profile is very distinctive, compared with the other taipans and the brown snakes," he said.
"The last big new snake discovery in Australia was probably in the early '80s, one in northern Australia and one in the southwest. And the last new taipan was discovered 125 years ago." Professor Richard Shine is a leading Australian biologist and an expert on the evolution and ecology of Australian snakes.
"My initial reaction is that this is really exciting," he said. "Taipans are such an icon of Australia.
"To discover that there's an entirely new taipan, more than a hundred years after the last one, really gives us an idea of what might be out there."
There are two other species of the snake, the inland taipan, and the common taipan, of which there are two sub species, mainland coastal and Papuan.
Professor Shine says it is still very common for people to be finding new species. "It does seem remarkable that such large animals of general interest are quite poorly known," he said.
"Maybe that reflects how few people are interested in going out to catch large snakes on hot days."
New deadly species found