New Taipan Found

RESEARCHERS have found a new species of taipan snake slithering in the outback.
Similar to the western brown snake, the still unnamed species was discovered during an expedition to a remote region about 200km northwest of Uluru in September last year.

Mark Hutchinson, reptile and amphibian curator at the South Australian Museum, caught the immature female taipan while it was crossing a dirt track.

Dr Hutchinson bagged the 1m venomous snake and sent it to the Western Australian Museum in Perth for inspection.

"It was a bit of a surprise," he said. "You usually don't find a new species that big out in the open - well, not in Australia."