Venomous creature — armed with neurotoxin — found in Oman for first time. See it
With a 'striking' black body and 'elusive' behavior, the nocturnal creature is 'rarely observed in the wild.'
Black desert cobras, or Walterinnesia aegyptia, are deadly snakes with a neurotoxic venom found as far south as the southeastern corner of Saudi Arabia, but during recent surveys across the desert, researchers made a 'remarkable discovery.'
The find was documented in a study published April 15 in the peer-reviewed journal Zootaxa.
'Although the distribution of Waterinnesia in Arabia was initially thought to be restricted to Saudi Arabia, recent research conducted between April 2015 and May 2024 has led to a remarkable discovery,' according to the study. 'Ten specimens of Walterinnesia have been found at 10 different localities in the Dhofar region, in the southwestern corner of Oman.'
The snakes were found more than 600 miles from their closest known habitat, and within the country of Oman for the first time, researchers said.
Black desert cobras can be between 3 and 4 feet long and are active night hunters, according to Britannica. While part of the cobra family, it 'is not a true cobra' and cannot spread its neck like a hood when threatened, but still packs a nasty bite.
But how did they get there?
The snakes are 'large and conspicuous' but were only described for the first time in the late 20th and early 21st centuries in Turkey and Syria, according to the study. This highlights their sneaky behavior, researchers said.
'This finding raises intriguing questions about the dispersal routes and ecological adaptations that may have enabled the establishment of this population in such a distant and isolated location,' researchers said.
Despite their name, black desert cobras are not a sand-dwelling species, meaning they prefer to live in rocky and gravelly environments to create their burrows, according to the study.
North of where the snakes were found in Oman is the Rub' al Hkali, the 'largest continuous sand desert in the world,' researchers said, possibly acting as a barrier between the Oman cobras and their relatives on the other side.
The 10 records in Oman were also found across thousands of square miles, 'mostly in uninhabited regions,' according to the study.
'Therefore, we rule out a human-mediated introduction of this species in the country and suggest that the most plausible explanation for the presence of (the snake) in Dhofar is natural dispersal through the southern route, via southwestern Saudi Arabia and southern Yemen,' researchers said.
Further study of the region may help identify other species living in unexpected places, according to the study.
'The addition of a new genus to Oman's reptile fauna is unexpected, especially given the extensive herpetological research conducted over the past 50 years,' researchers said. 'Recent sightings of elusive nocturnal snake species in the Arabian Peninsula underscore the continued importance of field surveys, as they can yield significant findings even in relatively well-sampled areas, such as Dhofar, as well as in regions that are less explored.'
Dhofar is in southwestern Oman, along the Arabian Sea.
The research team includes Salvador Carranza, Abdurhman Said Al-Amri, Ahmed Al Busaidi, Johannes Els, Maria Estarellas, Rashid Al-Buthari, Thore Koppetsch, Sergi Tullochi, Saleh Al Saadi, Said Hamed Ali Al-Rashdi, Sulaiman Al Hashmi, and Bernat Burriel-Carranza.
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