Kolhapur: Researchers have discovered a new snake species in the north of western ghats. The new species of burrowing snakes of genus Rhabdops is found in Koyna, Chandoli, Barki and Amboli. The snakes are endemic to India.
The discovery is a result of a collaborative effort between scientists from National Centre for Biological Sciences (NCBS) in Bangalore, Natural History Museum (NHM) in London, Centre for Ecological Science (CES), Indian Institute of Science in Bangalore, Indian Herpetological Society (IHS) in Pune, Wildlife Institute of India (WII) in Dehradun, Kerala Forest Research Institute (KFRI) in Peechi and College of Veterinary Science (CVS) in Pookode.
VaradGiri, a researcher from NCBS who played a major role in the discovery said, "We have named this new species after its aquatic nature as the adults are mostly associated with fresh water streams in the forest and young ones are mostly seen in water logged conditions, mostly on rocky plateaus."
The researcher said, "This species is nocturnal, chiefly aquatic and seen foraging underwater. The young ones and adults are different in colour. This onotogeniccolour variation may be due to their preference of habitat."
"This species is presently known to live in a few locations in Maharashtra, Goa and northern Karnataka. In Maharashtra, it is spotted in plateaus where water logging occurs. The largest known specimen is 950mm in length. It is non-venomous," he said.
He added, "This new species, Aquatic Rhabdops was previously considered as Olive Forest Snake owing to its similarities with it in characteristics and distribution."
Giri explained, "The team conducted detailed study of the snake, both using DNA and morphology. These findings were submitted to a scientific journal Zootaxa published recently. Our detailed study confirmed the distinctiveness of this new species."
