The desert whip snake is found across arid areas of Western Australia, South Australia, Queensland and the Northern Territory.

"For a long time, there [was] confusion within central Australia with all of the whip snakes," says Brad. Like other whip snakes, the desert whip snake has large eyes and a slender body.

The desert whip snake was distinguished from other whip snakes using DNA sequencing.

James sequenced many samples of the desert whip snake and studied the DNA of most other whip snake species.

To be precise, the new species is a combination of WA's reticulated whip snake and the yellow-faced whip snake from Eastern Australia.