A new breed of venomous snake has been discovered in Australia

A new breed of venomous snake has been discovered in Australia.

The desert whip snake has been mistaken as a different species for decades due to common characteristics with the yellow-faced whip snake, from eastern Australia, and the reticulated whip snake, from WA.

The desert whip snake went inhabits remote desert areas of Central Australia, eastern parts of the Northern Territory and across Western Australia.

Appearing bluish-grey in colour the formal name for the desert whip snake is Demansia Cyanochasma, modified from the Green works kyanos meaning blue and khasma meaning space.

The snake was distinguished from other species via genetics research by James Nankivell, a geneticist from the University of Adelaide, and Perth researchers Brad Maryan and Brian Bush.

SA Museum honorary researcher Mark Hutchinson said the desert whip snake’s discovery had taken a while as many samples were sent to museums.

“A lot of the discovery has happened inside the museum walls using genetic samples and matching them to the bodies the genetic samples came from,” Dr Hutchinson said.

“It’s taken a while to accumulate the genetic samples that we needed because they are very often in these fairly remote places.”

While it is venomous, the desert whip snake is not considered dangerous to humans but a bite will cause pain and swelling.

“They grow to about 70cm long and they are very slim, that means their head is very small and their fangs are very short for their size,” Dr Hutchinson said.

“They will certainly bite if you try to pick them up or handle them but there’s no records of significant bites coming from these snakes.”