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Black and white creature — snacking on snails — is new species in French Guiana
In the tropical rainforests of French Guiana, a new species has been hiding in plain sight.
Sibon nebulatus, a species of snail-eating snake, is found all the way from Mexico to northeastern Brazil, according to a study published June 6 in the peer-reviewed journal Zootaxa.
But now, genetic testing has revealed that some snakes mistaken for S. nebulatus were actually a different, cryptic species.
Cryptic species are animals that may morphologically, or physically, look the same as another species, but are 'genetically distinct' and have their own evolutionary lineage.
The new species was found in French Guiana, researchers said, on the northern edge of the Amazon Rainforest.
Sibon nebulatus, or the black and white snail-eating snake, was collected from Mont Itoupé at an elevation of about 2,600 feet, according to the study.
The snakes are about a foot long from snout to body, with a seven-inch tail, researchers said. Their heads are distinct from the cylindrical shape of their bodies, and their snouts are short and blunt.
The snakes earn their name from their coloration pattern, photos show. The snakes are gray with white bellies and covered in thick black bands that extend the length of their bodies.
'(The black and white snail-eating snake) is only known from French Guiana, (where it was so far mistaken with S. nebulatus whereas specimens of S. nebulatus (strictly speaking) were considered to belong to a new species) but it is widespread throughout the territory at the exception of the upper Maroni basin and along the coastal strip of savannas where S. nebulatus occurs,' the study explains.
Researchers suspect the snake can also be found in the old growth forests of neighboring Surinam, but no records have been made so far.
'Several specimens have been observed feeding on snails in French Guiana,' researchers said. 'One specimen was observed at (5:30 a.m.) perched at about (20 feet) above the ground on a vine of the genus Bauhinia and disappeared in a cavity in the trunk.'
Researchers said the existence of a second species was hypothesized for decades, but it wasn't until more recent records and genetic testing was used that the theory could be proven.
French Guiana is on the northern coast of South America, north of Brazil and along the Atlantic Ocean.
The research team included Antoine Fouquet, Alejandro Arteaga, Átilas R. De Sousa and Robson W. Avila.
