A species of wood snake – Xylophis indicus – that wasn’t seen for 140 years has resurfaced in a survey conducted by scientists in the Meghamalai Wildlife Sanctuary.
About:
Nomenclature: Its etymology was not explained on first usage, but probably derives from xylon, the Greek noun for wood (the substance, not an assemblage of trees), perhaps because of this snake’s woody colour.
Habitat and Distribution: The species is endemic to the Meghamalai forests and Periyar Tiger Reserve area.
Last finding:
The local population of wood snakes was last spotted and recorded by British military officer and naturalist Colonel Richard Henry Beddome in 1878, who went on to describe it as a new species, Xylophis indicus.
The specimens he collected was labelled as being from “the dense heavy evergreen forests on the mountains at the south of the Cumbum valley, Madura.” This locality (alternative spelling: Kambam) is now probably within the Teni District of Tamil Nadu, close to the state border with Kerala.
Recent rediscovery:
The species, endemic to the Meghamalai forests and the Periyar Tiger Reserve landscape, was recently rediscovered by R. Chaitanya, a herpetologist, and Varad Giri, director, Foundation for Biodiversity Conservation.
The findings of the surveys, conducted over two years (2014-2016), were published in the Journal of the Bombay Natural History Society last month.
The snake he discovered was 235 mm long and uniformly dark brown.
Way ahead:
Their rediscovery of Xylophis indicus needs to be validated by both morphological and genetic data.
While the morphological aspect has been done, the genetic data is pending. The process of capturing the specimen for genetic data would require several permits.
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