It has been named Achalinus zugorum in honor of a late Smithsonian Museum of Natural History researcher (George Zug). It is a new species of burrowing snake that features a strange pattern of scales and glows with an impressive iridescent coloration. The unusual reptile was discovered by researchers walking through the karst forest while examining other creatures in the area. The snake does not have the bright light photoreceptors in its eyes, prompting the team to determine that it is hiding in the ground or crawling under debris on the forest floor.
It is the only known species of its kind. The team collected the specimen six months ago and since then they have been unable to find any more such specimens.
“Nothing is known about the ecology, behavior, diet or preferred microhabitat of this species, although presumably it is a semi-phosorian species that was extracted by recent heavy rains before harvesting”, according to the study published in the journal Copeia .
The rare snake has a blackish and deep purple back, along with a dark brown underside and strong iridescent coloration throughout its body.
The researchers took the snake to the Smithsonian where its DNA was sequenced, allowing them to confirm that it is a species new to science. The next step is to send it back to Vietnam, where it will be cataloged.
Referencia: Discovery of a New Species of Enigmatic Odd-Scaled Snake (Serpentes: Xenodermidae: Achalinus) from Ha Giang Province, Vietnam
Aryeh H. Miller, Hayden R. Davis, Anh Mai Luong, Quyen Hanh Do, Cuong The Pham, Thomas Ziegler, Justin L. Lee, Kevin De Queiroz, R. Graham Reynolds, Truong Quang Nguyen
Copeia, 108(4):796-808 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1643/CH2020060
