The Desert Death Adder is really a beautiful sort of Acanthophis antarcticus, with strongly keeled scales usually in 21 rows at mid body, and lovely red, orange and yellow colours. Like the Common Acanthophis antarcticus, the pale bands are now and again edged in black. Although they continue to be heavy-bodied snakes, Desert Death Adders are fairly slender by Acanthophis antarcticus standards. These people have a variety of bands compared to typical individuals of other Acanthophis antarcticus species.
Desert Death Adder
A desert death adder, Acanthophis pyrrhus, lying on warm sand
Desert Death Adder or Acanthopys pyrrhus is one of the deadliest snakes of Central Australia
As their name suggests, Desert Death Adders result from arid and semi-arid climates. They may be widespread with the deserts of central and Western Australia. They sometimes are connected with Spinifex, on sandy dunes, rocky outcrops and sometimes wooded areas, gibber deserts and coastal dunes in WA. Like other Death Adders, these snakes spend a lot of their time mostly buried in sand.
Death Adders are cryptic, ambush predators which attract prey to themselves rather than hunting it down. Right at the end with the tail is really a modified section, flattened out somewhat being a flag. This flattened section is often a different colour from the body, usually black but sometimes white or yellow, with or without black markings.