Denisonia

Den·i·so·nia

noun \ˌden-ə-ˈsō-nē-ə, -nyə\

Definition of DENISONIA

: a genus of venomous Australian snakes of the family Elapidae including the copperhead (D. superba)

Biographical Note for DENISONIA

Den·i·son \ˈden-ə-sən\ , Sir William Thomas (1804–1871), Australian statesman. Denison was governor of New South Wales from 1854 to 1861. In his spare time he was an avid conchologist. In 1860 he appointed as a curator of the Australian Museum Johann Ludwig Gerard Krefft (1830–1881). Krefft was an all-around zoologist but specialized in snakes. His published works include some 200 articles and a book-length work on the snakes of Australia. One of the species described was the Australian copperhead, which he named Denisonia superba after his benefactor.