NATURAL HISTORY · CATALOGUE RECORD
Black whip snake
Demansia vestigiata (de Vis, 1884)
Source-backed taxonomic record
Accepted species in Catalogue of Life’s 11 September 2026 base release. This preserves the source classification and available supporting data; it is not a completed species monograph.
Open encyclopedia reference
The lesser black whipsnake (Demansia vestigiata) is a species of venomous snake in the family Elapidae.
It is found in the northern parts of Queensland, Northern Territory and Western Australia in Australia.
Wikipedia contributors, Lesser black whipsnake; see linked history · CC BY-SA 4.0 . Plain-text lead excerpt, at most 180 words; no infobox or later sections Retrieved 2026-10-05T08:07:14.485390+00:00. This reference remains separate from the taxonomic record.
Identity & source status
- Scientific name
- Demansia vestigiata (de Vis, 1884)
- Name authority
- (de Vis, 1884)
- Common name
- Black whip snake
- Rank
- species
- Accepted status
- accepted
- Kingdom
- Animalia
- Phylum
- Chordata
- Class
- Reptilia
- Order
- Squamata
- Family
- Elapidae
- Genus
- Demansia
- Extinction status
- Not supplied by this source
Classification family tree
Nested taxonomic groups from the source. This is not a direct-ancestor chain, a dated evolutionary tree or a phylogenetic reconstruction.
- domainEukaryota (Chatton, 1925) Whittaker & Margulis, 1978
- kingdomAnimalia
- phylumChordata
- subphylumVertebrata
- infraphylumGnathostomata
- parvphylumOsteichthyes
- megaclassTetrapoda
- classReptilia Laurenti, 1768
- orderSquamata Oppel, 1811
- suborderSerpentes Linnaeus, 1758
- infraorderAlethinophidia Nopcsa, 1923
- familyElapidae
- subfamilyHydrophiinae
- genusDemansia
- speciesDemansia vestigiata (de Vis, 1884)
Close classified relatives
These entries share the source’s genus, Demansia. They are not necessarily the closest relatives established by molecular evidence.
| Species | Classification | Source status |
|---|---|---|
| Marble-headed Whip SnakeDemansia olivacea (Gray, 1842) | ElapidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Yellow-Faced Whip SnakeDemansia psammophis (Schlegel, 1837) | ElapidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Demansia quaesitor Shea, 2007 | ElapidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Yellow-Faced Whip SnakeDemansia reticulata (Gray, 1842) | ElapidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Demansia rimicola Scanlon, 2007 | ElapidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Demansia shinei Shea, 2007 | ElapidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Collared Whip SnakeDemansia torquata (Günther, 1862) | ElapidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Grey WhipsnakeDemansia simplex Storr, 1978 | ElapidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Demansia cyanochasma Nankivell, Maryan, Bush & Hutchinson, 2023 | ElapidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Black-necked WhipsnakeDemansia calodera Storr, 1978 | ElapidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Papuan whip snakeDemansia papuensis (Macleay, 1877) | ElapidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Rufous WhipsnakeDemansia rufescens Storr, 1978 | ElapidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
Names & synonyms
Names explicitly linked to this accepted taxon in the source. Synonymy can change with revision.
| Recorded name | Source status |
|---|---|
| Demansia atra Cogger, 1975 Cogger, 1975 | synonym |
| Demansia superba Boulenger, 1896 Boulenger, 1896 | synonym |
| Diemenia atra Macleay, 1884 Macleay, 1884 | synonym |
| Diemenia maculiceps Boettger, 1898 Boettger, 1898 | synonym |
| Hoplocephalus vestigiatus de Vis, 1884 de Vis, 1884 | synonym |
Documented distribution
Source distribution statements, not a complete range map. A listed locality is not necessarily a place of origin.
Source literature & publication evidence
References attached to this source record, including nomenclatural citations where supplied. This is a selected bibliography; abbreviated citations remain in the source’s form.
- https://reptile-database.reptarium.cz/species?genus=Demansia&species=vestigiata Source fields: Taxon.tsv dwc:namePublishedIn, Taxon.tsv dcterms:references
Origins, evidence & remaining research
Name authority and publication references document nomenclature where the source supplies it. They do not establish evolutionary origins or the earliest fossil occurrence.
Specimen-level evidence, morphology, ecological research, phylogenetic studies, a comprehensive bibliography and a located literary passage have not yet been compiled for this record. A suitable sourced image remains to be added.
Dataset citation & attribution
This exact taxon in ChecklistBank · Catalogue of Life 2026-09-11
Catalogue of Life 2026-09-11; dataset 316321; doi:10.48580/dgz5n. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ . Retrieved 5 October 2026.
Stable key: col:34KRY. Classification follows source parent identifiers. English common names may vary by region.