A deadly news snake according to researchers – who named the snake after a shape-shifting snake goddess from a Chinese folk tale – was discovered after spending decades as a much less dangerous species.
The new species is a type of snake snake that occurs in southwestern China and northern Myanmar and was previously categorized as the multi-striped crab (Bungarus multicinctus). However, morphological and genetic differences, as well as a particularly painful and deadly bite, were enough to classify this reptile as its own species.
The researchers call the new snake Suzhen’s krait (Bungarus suzhenae) to Bai Su Zhen – a powerful serpent goddess of a traditional Chinese myth.
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“It’s very dangerous,” researcher Gernot Vogel of the Society for Southeast Asian Herpetology in Germany told WordsSideKick. “Because kraits are extremely deadly, it is important to understand the diversity of species and geographical distribution to save human lives.”
Researchers hope the new classification will enable local communities to identify the deadly snake and avoid potentially fatal interactions, as well as help scientists develop a new toxin to treat Suzhen’s crab bites.
New snake species
Kraits has long been a nightmare for taxonomists. Suzraan krait was one of four different species that until recently was collectively termed as one species named very-band-scratch. The species are all predominantly black and white and look very similar at first glance, but Suzhen’s krait has a clear number of bands on its body and is longer than the other species.
“Our longest specimen was 135.5 centimeters [4.5 feet] but part of the tail was missing, so it was certainly larger than 150 cm [4.9 feet], “Bird told WordsSideKick via email.” We can expect a length of about 180 cm [5.9 feet]. “
Other subtle differences were found in the teeth, color at the bottom of the tail and the shape of the hemipene – the snake equivalent of a penis, which is divided into two parts – in men, Vogel said.
However, one of the main reasons why researchers realized Suzhen’s krait was its bite. Although most kraits are poisonous, not all are fatal, and being bitten by a multiple krait is usually painless and causes no visual mark. However, it is painful to have a bite from a Suzhen krait, leaves a dark patch around the bitten area and can be fatal.
A legendary snake
Suzhen’s krait gets its name from one of China’s most famous folk tales – the legend of the white snake. In this story, the serpent goddess Bai Su Zhen takes human form and falls in love with a man, but this is forbidden by the gods and she is locked up in a tower forever. As such, Bai Su Zhen is considered in Chinese mythology as a symbol of love and kindness.
This story has been retold in many different formats, including a Netflix original series of the same name, but Suzhen’s Krait is the first snake to be named after the shape-shifting snake goddess.
The black-and-white banded krait [Suzhen’s krait] is one of the snakes that is most similar to the white snake in the wild, which is why we decided to name it after Bai Su Zhen, “the researchers said. said in a statement.
An important discovery
Suzrait’s krait is extremely dangerous due to a combination of its deadly venom and so far anonymity among other krait snakes in Asia.
Suzhen’s krait is believed to be responsible for a number of notable incidents involving herpetologists, including the death of renowned snake researcher Joseph B. Slowinski in 2001 after he was bitten by one. More recently, Chinese herpetologist Mian Hou survived being bitten in 2015 after being rushed to hospital.
However, locals are most at risk of being bitten. “Krait species are active at night and they regularly come into homes in search of food,” Vogel said. “So often sleeping people are bitten while touching the snake during their sleep.”
Hopefully, classifying Suzhen’s krait as his own species can help raise awareness and speed up the development of a treatment.
“Thanks to adequate description and classification of deadly snakes, research on venom, toxin development and proper treatment of snake bites can progress faster,” Vogel said.
The study was published online in the journal on April 6 Zoo Keys.
Originally published on Live Science.