What geological process drove the divergence between the Woma and Black-headed Python?

Allopatric speciation driven by continent-wide aridity over millennia

The clear geographical separation and resulting specialization between *Aspidites ramsayi* and *Aspidites melanocephalus* provide a classic illustration of allopatric speciation. This process occurs when populations become geographically isolated and experience different selective pressures, leading to reproductive divergence. In this case, the ancestral python population likely dispersed across the Australian landmass when the climate was wetter. Subsequent, significant drying of the continent caused habitat fragmentation, isolating groups. The populations adapting to the increasingly dry conditions became the Woma Pythons, while those remaining in the wetter northern areas evolved into the Black-headed Pythons, all as a result of long-term climatic shifts.