Austrelaps ramsayi (Highlands Copperhead)
Elapid
The Highlands Copperhead (Austrelaps ramsayi) is one of two species of copperheads found in the region. Copperheads are variable in colour, ranging from dark grey to dark reddish brown with a cream belly. The head is often a slightly different colour to the body, sometimes copper coloured, as the name suggests, but not always. The back often has a darker stripe down the middle, especially in juveniles.
It may grow up to 1.25m in length.
It is restricted to higher altitudes.
Distribution: Common at higher altitudes.
Note: The Atlas of Living Australia shows a number of records of Lowland Copperhead (Austrelaps superbus) in the region but many of these are old records before A. ramsayi was formally separated, so most of them are probably A. ramsayi that have been mislabelled as A. superbus. The only exception is the far south-east of NSW, where A. superbus may be found.
Where the ranges overlap, one of the best ways to distinguish between A. ramsayi and A. superbus is by looking at the upper lips (supralabial scales). The former has prominently barred lips that have pale anterior triangles or 'white sails' on each supralabial (upper labial) scale, with the pale portion occupying more than one-third of each scale and meeting the dark posterior portion along a sharp diagonal line. Whereas in A. superbus, the lips are weakly barred, with the pale anterior edge to each upper labial scale being narrow and often ill-defined.
Austrelaps ramsayi is listed in the following regions:
Canberra & Southern Tablelands | Southern Highlands | South Coast | Greater Sydney | Hume | Gippsland | Tasmania
Species information
- Austrelaps ramsayi Scientific name
- Highlands Copperhead Common name
- Not Sensitive
- Local native
- Non-invasive or negligible
- Up to 1759.9m Recorded at altitude
- 111 images trained Machine learning
Location information
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Maps
Alpine National Park Alpine National Park Alpine Shire Bendora Reservoir Bimberi Nature Reserve Blue Mountains National Park Bundanoon Burradoo Cecil Hoskins Nature Reserve Corin Reservoir Gibraltar Pines Kosciuszko National Park Lower Cotter Catchment Monga National Park Mongarlowe River Morton National Park (CNM portion) Mt Holland Namadgi National Park Penrose Rock Valley, Tidbinbilla Scabby Range Nature Reserve South East Forest National Park Tallaganda National Park Tallaganda State Forest Tidbinbilla Nature Reserve Tinderry Nature Reserve Top Hut TSR Wingecarribee Local Government Area -
Places
Captains Flat, NSW Charlotte Pass, NSW Cobberas, VIC Cotter River, ACT Dry Plain, NSW Geehi, NSW Harrietville, VIC Mount Clear, ACT Palerang, NSW Pilot Wilderness, NSW Reidsdale, NSW Tennent, ACT
