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Description and Distribution The Diamond Python Morelia spilota spilota (Lacépède 1804) is a colourful and distinctive python distributed along the eastern coast of Australia from East Gippsland north to near Coffs Harbour in NSW. One of only two pythons occurring in Victoria (the other is the closely related Carpet Python Morelia spilota variegata), it has the most southerly distribution of all Australian pythons and, in East Gippsland, occurs at the highest latitudes of any python in the world (Slip Shine 1988d). Average adult length is about 2m, with a maximum of 4m. Typical colouration above is a glossy olive-black, with cream or yellow spots on most scales, with some of these spots occurring as groups, sometimes in a diamond shape, giving a patterned effect. The lower body is cream or yellow, patterned with dark grey. The lips are cream, barred with black (Cogger 1996). Hatchlings and juveniles are mottled brown, and appear very similar to young Carpet Pythons, changing to adult colouration in the first few years of life (Shine 1991). The Diamond Python is restricted in Victoria to far East Gippsland (Coventry Robertson 1991), with few confirmed records, most from within the area bounded by the Cann River, the Princes Highway and the coast. In NSW, the python occurs only east of the Great Dividing Range, but it is not entirely coastal, extending inland along some of the larger river systems north of Sydney. It still occurs extensively in the bushland suburbs of Sydney where, in the late 1980s, it was found to be relatively common, but seldom seen due to its highly effective camouflage and secretive behaviour (Shine 1991). In the north of its range, the Diamond Python occasionally hybridises with the Carpet Python (Ehmann 1993). Both subspecies are slow-moving and non-venomous - although they can inflict a painful bite, they are not considered dangerous to humans. The ecology of Diamond Pythons has been studied in the Sydney area (Slip Shine 1988a