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Judi Lynn

(162,406 posts)
Sat Mar 16, 2024, 09:15 AM Mar 2024

Found: new vine snake species after a gap 113 years


By
S Suresh Ramanan
13 May, 2019



Ahaetulla laudankia from Odisha state. Photo credit: Pratyush P. Mohapatra

Zoologists have discovered a new vine snake species from the eastern State of Odisha. A new taxon of vine snake is being found after a gap of over a century. The last time a vine snake species was described was in 1906.

Vine snake is a slender rear-fanged snake with narrow heads and pointed snouts. Belonging to the family Colubridae, it has three prominent genera –Oxybelis found in the American continent, Thelotornis found in Africa and Ahaetull, which is distributed through India and Southeast Asia. Seven vine snake species are found in India. The taxonomy of Ahaetulla vine snake is not fully understood and there is no consensus on species characterization. The recent advancements in molecular technology are helping to study the species.

It took about 10 years of field and laboratory work to describe the new species. Scientists have named it Ahaetulla Laudankia or Laudankia vine snake since it was found in Odisha. The local name for vine snakes in the eastern State is Laudankia or Laudaka, as the snake resembles dried stems (‘Danka’) of bottle gourd (‘Lau’).

Discovery has an interesting story behind it. In 2009, researchers collected a brown colored snake from Similipal Biosphere Reserve and they initially thought it may be haetullana sutaisabellinus, a sub-species of the common vine snake found in India. However, after studying another brown vine snake specimen (Ahaetulla pulverulenta) from Baripada also in Odisha, they noticed some variations in color between the specimens. The researchers felt that the specimen they had collected from Similipal may be a new variety. However, they came across three more specimens from Balasore district of Odisha, which further intrigued them.



Ahaetulla laudankia from Odisha state.
Photo credit: Pratyush P. Mohapatra

More:
https://www.techexplorist.com/found-new-vine-snake-species-after-gap-113-years/23139/
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