''Brachyurophis roperi'', also known as the northern shovel-nosed snake, is a species of venomous burrowing snake that is

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also found elsew ...

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

. The

specific epithet In taxonomy, binomial nomenclature ("two-term naming system"), also called nomenclature ("two-name naming system") or binary nomenclature, is a formal system of naming species of living things by giving each a name composed of two parts, bot ...

''roperi'' refers to the type locality of the Roper River Mission in the

Northern Territory The Northern Territory (commonly abbreviated as NT; formally the Northern Territory of Australia) is an states and territories of Australia, Australian territory in the central and central northern regions of Australia. The Northern Territory ...

. It was formerly considered a subspecies of ''

Brachyurophis semifasciatus The southern shovel-nosed snake (''Brachyurophis semifasciatus'') is a species of snake native to southern Australia. References {{Taxonbar, from=Q3484673 Snakes of Australia semifasciatus Taxa named by Albert Günther ...

''.

Description

The species grows to an average of about 37 cm in length. There are dark brown to black bands along the length of the orange to reddish-brown upper body. The belly is whitish.

Behaviour

The species is

oviparous Oviparous animals are animals that lay their eggs, with little or no other embryonic development within the mother. This is the reproductive method of most fish, amphibians, most reptiles, and all pterosaurs, dinosaurs (including birds), and ...

with a clutch size of three. It feeds on reptile eggs.

Distribution and habitat

The species’ range extends from Broome in

Western Australia Western Australia (commonly abbreviated as WA) is a state of Australia occupying the western percent of the land area of Australia excluding external territories. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to th ...

, eastwards through the

Kimberley region The Kimberley is the northernmost of the nine regions of Western Australia. It is bordered on the west by the Indian Ocean, on the north by the Timor Sea, on the south by the Great Sandy Desert, Great Sandy and Tanami Desert, Tanami deserts ...

, the

Top End The Top End of Australia's Northern Territory is a geographical region encompassing the northernmost section of the Northern Territory, which aside from the Cape York Peninsula is the northernmost part of the Australian continent. It covers a ra ...

of the

as far south as Ti-Tree, to Camooweal in western

Queensland ) , nickname = Sunshine State , image_map = Queensland in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of Queensland in Australia , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , established_ ...

. It occurs in sandy soils as well as in heavy soils and rocky ranges.

References

roperi Snakes of Australia Endemic fauna of Australia Reptiles of Western Australia Reptiles of the Northern Territory Reptiles of Queensland Taxa named by James Roy Kinghorn Reptiles described in 1931 {{Elapidae-stub