A new species of snake, previously unknown, has just been discovered in a cave in Thailand.
During an expedition in the limestone mountains on the border of Trang and Satun provinces in southern Thailand to search for samples of the recently discovered green pit viper species Trimeresurus ciliaris, two reptile researchers, Harry Ward-Smith and Rupert Grassby-Lewis, accidentally stumbled upon a new snake species.
This snake species has “dagger-like” upper fangs (fangs), along with sturdy keeled scales on its belly, enabling them to “climb vertical rock walls.”
Evolutionary biologists note that the two “dagger-shaped upper fangs” and the sturdy keeled belly scales of this creature provide “strong evidence” that it is a completely new species.
“They are particularly adapted to life in this harsh environment,” shared Harry Ward-Smith, who named the new snake species “Kukri Snake” or Oligodon speleoserpens.
Additionally, Grassby-Lewis, a herpetologist and tour guide, notes that Kukri snakes inhabit and around caves on limestone cliffs, ranging from light to medium brown, with black-edged scales. They primarily feed on the eggs of two local gecko species, Cnemaspis and Cyrtodactylus.
Herpetologists from Moscow State University (Russia) and the University of Michigan (USA), who supported the two young researchers in publishing their discovery, state that many specimens of this snake species may be hidden deep inside underground caves on the mountains.
Three specimens of the newly discovered snake species – (Photo: Harry Ward-Smith).
The new snake species has “dagger-like” fangs, along with keeled or “horned” scales on the underside of the belly – (Photo: Harry Ward-Smith)
“We need further observations on the Oligodon speleoserpens snake species,” the scientists wrote in their paper published in the journal Vertebrate Zoology.
