Ringed brown snake

The ringed brown snake (Pseudonaja modesta) is a species of venomous elapid snake native to a broad swathe of inland Australia, from western New South Wales and Queensland to Western Australia.^[2]

Ringed brown snake
P. modesta in Northern Territory, Australia
Conservation status
Least Concern  (IUCN 3.1)[1]
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Reptilia
Order:	Squamata
Suborder:	Serpentes
Family:	Elapidae
Genus:	Pseudonaja
Species:	P. modesta
Binomial name
Pseudonaja modesta Günther, 1872
Synonyms
Cacophis modesta Günther Furina ramsayi Macleay, 1885 Brachysoma sutherlandi De Vis, 1884

Albert Günther described it as Cacophis modesta in 1872, from specimens collected in northwestern Australia.^[3] The specific name modesta is the Latin adjective "unassuming", "orderly",^[4] or "well-behaved", regarded as apt by toxicologist Struan Sutherland, as the snake generally does not bite people.^[5] Meanwhile, Charles Walter De Vis described Brachysoma sutherlandi from Carl Creek, Norman River in northwestern Queensland in 1884,^[6] and William Macleay described Furina ramsayi, naming it after Edward Pierson Ramsay, in 1885 from a collection from Milparinka in northwestern New South Wales.^[7] All three are the same species.^[2]

Reaching around 50 cm (20 in) in length, the ringed brown snake has grey-brown to red-brown upperparts with a black head and neck split by a cream band, as well as four to seven black bands with cream margins at regular intervals down the length of its body. Its underparts are cream to yellow splotched with orange. The upper dark bands may fade markedly with age.^[8] Its colour and markings, particularly its black head and neck band, resemble the juvenile eastern brown snake.^[5]

The ringed brown snake is found in arid regions across inland Australia (except Victoria). It lives in arid shrubland or grassland, where it hides in spinifex or under fallen timber.^[8]

A girl bitten by this species in 1987 suffered mild systemic symptoms. No coagulopathy was recorded.^[5]

References

1. Shea, G.; Ellis, R.; Wilson, S. (2017). "Pseudonaja modesta". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2017: e.T42495929A42495937. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2017-3.RLTS.T42495929A42495937.en. Retrieved 19 November 2021.
2. Australian Biological Resources Study (26 August 2013). "Species Pseudonaja modesta (Günther, 1872)". Australian Faunal Directory. Canberra, Australian Capital Territory: Department of the Environment, Water, Heritage and the Arts, Australian Government. Retrieved 6 October 2017.
3. Günther, Albert (1872). "Seventh account of new species of snakes in the collection of the British Museum". Annals and Magazine of Natural History. 4 (9): 13–37 [35].
4. Simpson, D.P. (1979). Cassell's Latin Dictionary (5 ed.). London: Cassell Ltd. p. 371. ISBN 0-304-52257-0.
5. Sutherland, Struan K.; Tibballs, James (2001) [1983]. Australian Animal Toxins (2nd ed.). South Melbourne, Victoria: Oxford University Press. pp. 124–25. ISBN 0-19-550643-X.
6. De Vis, C.W. (1884). "Descriptions of a new snake with a synopsis of the genus Hoplocephalus". Proceedings of the Royal Society of Queensland. 1: 138–40 [139].
7. Macleay, William (1885). "On a new snake from the Barrier Ranges". Proceedings of the Linnean Society of New South Wales. 10: 61–62. doi:10.5962/bhl.part.17897.
8. Cogger, Harold G. (2014) [1975]. Reptiles and Amphibians of Australia (7th ed.). Melbourne, Victoria: CSIRO Publishing. p. 927. ISBN 9780643100350.