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Trimeresurus mayaae

  • Posted By
    10Pointer
  • Categories
    Science & Technology
  • Published
    23rd May, 2022

Context

Meghalaya, the land of the mythical evil spirit that takes the form of a giant serpent called U Thlen, has yielded a new-to-science, venomous green snake.

About

  • Recorded simultaneously in Mizoram, the snake has been named Maya’s pit viper after the deceased mother of an Army officer, one of seven authors of a study on it.
  • The name of the pit viper is recognised as Trimeresurus mayaae.
  • The new species was relatively common in Meghalaya, Mizoram and even in Guwahati (Assam). 
  • A species of the genus Trimeresurus, characterized by-
    • hemipenes short and strongly spinose
    • body green in both males and females
    • interstitial skin black
    • moderate size, with maximum total length of 750mm
    • conspicuous bicolored postocular stripe in males, thin and white below, wide and bright red above, faint white or no postocular stripe present in female
    • vivid, wide bicolored ventrolateral stripe, deep red below/white above in males, extending along the lower half of the tail, white in females
    • eyes rust coloured in males, green in females
    • tail mostly rusty or reddish-brown
    • V: 157–162; SC: 54–67 in males and V: 153; SC: 54–55 in females
    • first supralabial distinct from nasal
    • 19 or 21 dorsal scale rows at midbody, moderately keeled
    • snout covered with rather enlarged juxtaposed scales
    • internasals never in contact, separated by 1–2 scale
    • supraoculars narrower than internasals, separated by 9–10 smooth cephalic scales.

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