The dark brown-grey snake<\/a>, endemic to the tropical montane rainforest typical of the region, has been named Ovophis jenkinsi<\/em>. <\/p> The research team, led by Xian-Chun\u00a0Qiu from Shenyang Normal University, published<\/a> their findings in the open-access journal\u00a0ZooKeys<\/a><\/em>. <\/p> China’s Yingjiang County is a biodiversity hotspot, and the recent discovery of Ovophis jenkinsi<\/em> in the region’s tropical montane rainforest is the latest in a line of newly described reptile<\/a> species found in the area in the past few years. <\/p> The new species is a type of mountain pit viper (Ovophis<\/em><\/em>), a group of medium-sized venomous<\/a> snakes mainly found in eastern Asia, the southern Himalayas and the northern Indochina Peninsula. <\/p> Ovophis jenkinsi<\/em> is generally dark brownish-grey, though some individuals can be deep orange-brown, say the scientists. It has dark brown patches on its back, scattered with small white spots on the dorsal surface of the tail.<\/p> \u201cIt is usually slow-moving but shows great aggression when disturbed,\u201d the researchers explain after observing the snake\u2019s behaviour. <\/p> \u201cWhen threatened, these snakes inflate their bodies to make themselves appear larger and strike quickly.\u201d<\/p> Despite being newly described and endemic to the southwestern corner of China, the species is not an uncommon sight, according to the experts: \u201cIt is not difficult to find this species in the wild, they are active mainly in the autumn and prefer cool, humid, and even rainy nights, probably to avoid competition with other snakes.”<\/p> Based on a molecular phylogenetic analysis and morphological comparison, the team determine the snake to be a new species.<\/p> \u201cWe checked specimens of the [snake] genus\u00a0Ovophis<\/em>\u00a0collected by Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences and Beijing Forestry University in Yingjiang, Yunnan in 2008, and found that these specimens were different from all known similar species. We collected some new specimens from Yingjiang in 2023 and finally determined that this population represents a new species!\u201d the researchers explain.<\/p> The new species has been named\u00a0Ovophis jenkinsi<\/em>\u00a0after Robert \u201cHank\u201d William Garfield Jenkins AM (September 1947\u2212September 2023), a herpetologist who was involved with important snake census, conservation and management projects in China and other Asian countries.<\/p> The scientists say they are currently unsure of the feeding habit of\u00a0Ovophis jenkinsi<\/em> in the wild.\u00a0There are no records to date of humans being bitten by this species.<\/p> \u201cWe will be collecting more information about\u00a0O. jenkinsi<\/em>\u00a0in the future, including their appearance, distribution and habits, to improve our understanding of this species,\u201d the researchers conclude in their study paper<\/a>.<\/p> Main image: Ovophis jenkinsi from Yingjiang, Yunnan, China. Credit: Xian-Chun\u00a0Qiu<\/em><\/p> More about snakes:<\/strong><\/p> Scientists found the new snake species in the montane rainforest of Yingjiang County, close to the China-Myanmar border. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":24,"featured_media":0,"template":"","categories":[1],"acf":{"readingTimeMinutes":"3"},"uagb_featured_image_src":{"full":false,"thumbnail":false,"medium":false,"medium_large":false,"large":false,"1536x1536":false,"2048x2048":false},"uagb_author_info":{"display_name":"importmanagerhub@sprylab.com","author_link":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcwildlife\/author\/importmanagerhubsprylab-com\/"},"uagb_comment_info":0,"uagb_excerpt":"Scientists found the new snake species in the montane rainforest of Yingjiang County, close to the China-Myanmar border.","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcwildlife\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rss_feed\/39674"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcwildlife\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rss_feed"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcwildlife\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/rss_feed"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcwildlife\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/24"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcwildlife\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=39674"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcwildlife\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=39674"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"The](\"https:\/\/c02.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/62\/2024\/06\/The-only-known-habitat-of-Ovophis-jenkinsi-the-tropical-montane-rainforest-in-Yingjiang-Yunnan-China.-Photo-by-Xiaojun-Gu.jpeg\")
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