Scientists discover a new species of African house snake in Somaliland

https://www.miamiherald.com/news/nation-world/world/article298640363.html

Young desert creature — slightly iridescent — found in Somaliland. It’s a new species

At first glance, the young creature caught in a desert of eastern Africa might not have looked like much. But the slightly iridescent animal turned out to be a new species.

Jakob Hallermann and Oliver Hawlitschek decided to try to sort out a “common” yet often misidentified group of snakes known as African House snakes, they wrote in a study published Jan. 13 in the peer-reviewed journal Zootaxa.

In hopes of identifying overlooked species, researchers collected DNA samples from museums in several countries and from newly caught snakes, the study said. Soon, they noticed an anomaly in their data: a snake from Somaliland was genetically distinct. Researchers realized they’d discovered a new species: Boaedon subniger.

The new species of African house snake is known from only one specimen, a roughly 10-inch long juvenile snake caught “in high-altitude semiarid” part of Somaliland, the study said. It has a “cylindrical” body, “short” tail and pale stomach.

1 Like