A new and potentially highly aggressive species of brown snake has been recently discovered in inland New South Wales.
Due to it's highly strung nature it should be regarded as one of Australia's most dangerous species!
Known to science is "Pseudonaja elliotti", it is most closely related to the more common Eastern Brown Snake (Pseudonaja textilis).
The new species is to date only known from two specimens, both from near Wilcannia, New South Wales and now lodged in State Museums in NSW and Victoria.
The species was first discovered and identified some years back by "Snakebusters Australia" manager Raymond Hoser.
They were formally named in the current issue of the journal Crocodilian.
Psuedonaja elliotti is radically different from other known species and is readily separated from other Brown snakes by their much larger eye, darker reddish brown colour (as opposed to other "Brown Snakes" in the same area) and head scalation.
While Eastern Brown Snakes have a reputation for sometimes being aggressive, they are nothing compared to Psuedonaja elliotti, which Raymond Hoser says would rank as one of the most potentially aggressive species in the world.
While the venom properties of the snake are not yet known, the species is known to be deadly.
The colour and size of the snake also means that in years past, it may have been confused with the better known and equally dangerous Inland Taipan (or "Fierce Snake") Oxyuranus microlepidota. Ironically, the latter species is downright placid when compared with Pseudonaja elliotti.
Hoser named the species after a Melbourne-based snake-keeper Adam Elliott, who is one of the few people to have seen Psuedonaja elliotti in the wild state.
Venom labs and scientists are likely to seek further specimens of this medically significant snake.
The first ever photos of this snake are available to be published and can be downloaded as high resolution colour images from the internet site: