New species of “large, black-eyed” animal discovered in a mine that is surprising the scientific world
A black-eyed snake was discovered in a Papua New Guinean mine that stunned scientists.
On the tiny Misima Island in Papua New Guinea’s immense Louisiade Archipelago, scientists uncovered something never seen before by human eyes.
Fred Kraus was the visiting scientist on a mission to explore the habitats of the tree-dwelling snakes of the region, but as he crossed a local mining site, a large, black-eyed snake caught his eye as it slithered along the ground.
Writing in Zootaxa, Kraus said he found a number of “large” snakes with white chins, and set about comparing them to the species then recognised by science. His discovery came shortly after: what he was looking at was an entirely new species altogether.
This stunning serpent is a common tree snake. Found in both forested and urban areas along the northern and eastern coasts of Australia and into Papua New Guinea, this species is known for preying on fish, frogs, and other small animals. pic.twitter.com/ODSZaRsApx
— Joel Sartore (@joelsartore) August 15, 2020
New snake discovered in Papua New Guinea
Named Dendrelaphis atra, or the atra tree snake, it will be added to what Kraus calls a "taxonomically confusing group" of snakes. He adds that it differs to other related species, in the sense that atra tree snakes darken in colour as they age: while younger snakes had a “gray brown” hue while older, larger snakes were “uniformly black.“
He also acknowledges that there is more work to be done: ”the ranges of each species remain to be properly resolved on New Guinea and islands immediately to the east."
Kraus explains that the recent research has been profoundly fruitful, with taxonomic revision establishing “the presence of nine valid species in this area, though few specimens were examined from across most of the large island of New Guinea”
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