A squashed snake on a road in Kyrgyzstan has ushered the discovery of a new species of viper. The small size of this new species may favor it to survive mountain life. Although the deceased snake was too mutilated to draw any solid conclusion, Philipp Wagner, a herpetologist at Bavarian State Collection of Zoology in Munich acknowledged that it wasn’t long before another one in much better shape surfaced.
Soon after the roadkill, they discovered a second specimen which was alive. Wagner was among the National Geographic Science and Exploration in Europe expedition that located the new pit viper named Golydius rickmersi in 2013 during a wildlife survey in remote Alai mountain range. This discovery was unanticipated, since reptiles normally have a hard time surviving under harsh mountain environment or approximately 3,000 meters (9,800 ft.)
Wagner claims that only one dozen reptile species are known in the area.
Sturdy customers
Pit vipers already have a reputation for being sturdy customers amid having two heat-sensing “pit” organs on their head for prey detection. Pit vipers belong to a venomous group which includes copperheads and rattlesnakes. They can live in various habitats ranging from tropical rain forests to deserts to plain mountain slopes over 4,000 meters (13,000 ft.) high.
Each year, thousands of snakes assemble at the Narcisse Snake Dens in Manitoba, Canada, as recorded on June 25th 2014. In the case of Golydius rickmersi, Wagner reckons that the snake’s fairly small size, approximately 20 inches, allows the cold-blooded creature to absorb heat fast. Thicker and longer snakes on the other hand would have a difficult time acquiring enough body temperature to survive at those higher altitudes.
However, the newly discovered species has an outstanding vulnerability as affirmed by the flattened specimen. “The number of fresh roadkills was very high compared to the few cars driving around,” says Wagner, whose study was featured in January issue of Amphibia-Reptilia. He speculates that the road may have been warmer, and since it was late in the year, the snakes were attracted to the heat.
Gernot Vogel, an independent herpetologist residing in Heidelberg, Germany, argued that the roads in that area stony and not asphalted, hence they share the same temperature with the surrounding rocky, treeless landscape.
Road snakes
Vogel argued further that the expedition team mostly collected roadkill specimens because the newly discovered pit viper is nocturnal, similar to other pit vipers. Vogel who outlined 8 new pit species claims that Golydius rickmersi belongs to a defectively researched group of about half a dozen closely related species found across the broad, dry highlands of China, Central Asia, Mongolia and Russia.
The area has very few researchers and it might not be surprising if Wagner discovers another unknown species from the same Kyrgyz expedition. Agamid lizards are the only one known to be found at such high altitudes, starting from 3,000 meters to 5,000 meters and more. Pit vipers are not the only reptiles that enjoy the high life.