Abstract
Dwarfism in insular populations of snakes has been documented at several localities around the world and it has been largely attributed to a phenotypic response of these isolated populations to food availability and composition. The incidental collection of size data for the Milman Island population of Simalia amethistina in north Queensland has brought to light a previously unknown example of island dwarfism in a tropical python species in Australia. Simalia amethistina on Milman Island are significantly smaller than conspecifics from the nearby mainland, with the maximum recorded size being only as large as the smallest 50% of mainland specimens. We attribute this dwarfism to the lack of large-bodied prey species available on Milman Island.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Article number | ZO25030 |
| Pages (from-to) | 1-4 |
| Number of pages | 4 |
| Journal | Australian Journal of Zoology |
| Volume | 73 |
| Issue number | 5 |
| Early online date | 22 Aug 2025 |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | Published - Oct 2025 |
Bibliographical note
Copyright the Author(s) 2025. Version archived for private and non-commercial use with the permission of the author/s and according to publisher conditions. For further rights please contact the publisher.Keywords
- Cape York
- food availability
- insular
- Lockerbie Scrub
- Milman Island
- prey composition
- Simalia kinghorni
- snake
Fingerprint
Dive into the research topics of 'Island dwarfism in a tropical Australian python (Simalia amethistina)'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.Cite this
- APA
- Author
- BIBTEX
- Harvard
- Standard
- RIS
- Vancouver