Oenpelli Rock Python

About the Oenpelli Rock Python

The Oenpelli python or Oenpelli rock python (Simalia oenpelliensis or Nyctophilopython oenpelliensis) is a species of large snake in the family Pythonidae. The species is endemic to the sandstone massif area of the western Arnhem Land region in the Northern Territory of Australia. There are no subspecies that are recognised as being valid. It has been called the rarest python in the world. Two notable characteristics of the species are the unusually large size of its eggs and its ability to change colour. It is the longest snake native to the Northern Territory.

The Oenpelli python was assigned to a taxonomy in 1977 by Gow, who placed it in the genus Python. It was then categorised by Cogger and Cameron as a species of Morelia. In 1984, Wells and Wellington placed it into a new genus Nyctophilopython, and in 2014, a work by Reynolds, Niemiller, and Revell proposed to classify it as Simalia.

The specific name, oenpelliensis, is derived from the type locality, which is given as "6.5 km S.W. of Oenpelli, Northern Territory, Australia (12°21'S, 133°01'E)". In 2020, the name Nawaran was erected for the genus, overlooking the available name Nyctophilopython for... Wikipedia →