Begin typing your search above and press return to search.

Rare snake rediscovered in Assam; last spotted a century ago

By The Assam Tribune
Rare snake rediscovered in Assam; last spotted a century ago
X

Source: Twitter

Guwahati, May 23: In what could be termed a milestone in the field of herpetology, a rare snake has been rediscovered in Assam after a century.

The rare snake known as Oligodon melaneus (commonly known as Bluebelly Kukri Snake) was recently rediscovered in Assam after 112 years of its original description.

While sharing the news on social media a Herpetologist, Deepak Veerappan, informed that the rare variety of snake was found by his colleagues at Manas National Park in Assam. He further said that the Blue Belly Kukri snake was described in 1909 based on two specimens and since then there are no records of this species.

"It is a small brown snake at NHM & BNHS collection but look at those colors!" Veerappan said in a tweet.

As per the abstract of a journal published by Magnolia press (Zootaxa) which focuses on the study of taxonomy says that the rediscovery of Oligodon melaneus has been reported 112 years after its original description and document the third, and only non-type, specimen for the species.

The new specimen was found 267 km east of the type locality (Tindharia, West Bengal state) in Assam, India, it said.

Blue belly kukri snake is a species of snake in the family Colubridae. It is endemic to eastern India. It was described in 1909 by Frank Wall based on two specimens from Tindharia, Darjeeling at Bombay Natural History Museum and the other at Natural History Museum London.

Next Story