New Vine Snake Species Found in Odisha After a Gap 113 Years!

In the Headlines~ A new species of vine snake from the eastern state of Odisha has been found by zoologists. After a lapse of more than a century, a new taxon of vine snake is discovered. A species of vine snake was last described in 1906. The vine snake has a thin head, pointed nose, and slender rear fangs. Its three major genera are "Oxybelis" found on the American continent, "Thelotornis" found in Africa, and "Ahaetull" found in India and Southeast Asia. It is a member of the "Colubridae" family. India is home to seven species of vine snakes. The Ahaetullavine snake's taxonomy is incomplete, and opinions about the species' characterization are divided. The study of the species is being aided by new developments in molecular technology. (Source: Google Images ~ Species New to Science:  Ahaetulla laudankia )  Asian vine snakes are found all across the continent and are members of the Proahaetulla and Ahaetulla genera, which were newly described. The team was shocked to learn that the common green vine snake (Ahaetulla nasuta) in India was a complex of numerous species once they got to work on their investigation. In the Western Ghats rainforests alone, they discovered four unique species of small-bodied, short-nosed vine snakes: the Northern Western Ghats vine snake (Ahaetulla borealis), the Farnsworth's vine snake (Ahaetulla farnsworthi), the Malabar vine snake (Ahaetulla malabarica), and Wall's vine snake (Ahaetulla isabellina). Despite having physical characteristics that appeared to be similar, these species were divided by geographical or ecological barriers. The long-nosed vine snake (Ahaetulla oxyrhyncha), a different, bigger species with different morphology, was found in the lowlands and drier regions of peninsular India. ( Source: Google Images)  About the Images To the casual onlooker, this snake might appear indistinguishable from any vine. That is how the snake has evolved. Its camouflage is so perfect that during the day, it’s impossible to find it among the foliage. One could easily walk past it without noticing its presence. To characterize the new species, around ten years of field and lab investigation were required. Because it was discovered in Odisha, scientists have dubbed it Ahaetulla laudankia, or Laudankia vine snake. In the eastern State, vine snakes are known by the native names Laudankia or Laudaka because they resemble dried bottle gourd stems, or "danka. Every find has a fascinating backstory. When a brown snake was discovered in 2009 in the Similipal Biosphere Reserve, scientists first believed it may be a subspecies of the common vine snake seen in India, Haetullanasutaisabellinus. But after examining a different specimen of a brown vine snake (Ahaetullapulverulenta) from Baripada, in Odisha, they discovered minor color differences between the two. The specimen the researchers had taken from Similipal seemed to them to be a possible new kind. They were interested even more, though, when they discovered three additional specimens from the Odisha region of Balasore. Future Prospects ~ "We are currently trying to find the snake's distribution range," stated Pratyush P. Mohapatra, a member of the research team at the Central Zone Regional Centre of the Zoological Survey of India, about upcoming programming. The first goal is to locate the first distribution range. We are charting its distribution across India. Information concerning its occurrence is coming to us from throughout the nation. Researchers V. Deepak (Indian Institute of Science, Bengaluru); Surya Narayanan (Wayanad Wild); Vivek Sarkar (Wildlife Institute of India, Dehradun); and Susil K. Dutta (Nature, Environment & Wildlife Society, Angul) were among the scientists on the research team.