A new species of viper - corresponding snake fall upon in the Kimberley region of northwestern Australia is highly deadly and like an expert camouflaged . CalledAcanthophis cryptamydros , the Kimberley last adder is a sit - and - wait predator – ambushing frogs , lounge lizard , and small-scale mammalian passing by .
A team led bySimon Maddockfrom London ’s Natural History Museum discovered the Modern coinage after take apart mitochondrial and nuclear desoxyribonucleic acid of Australian destruction adders in the genusAcanthophis . Previously , population from the Kimberley region of Western Australia were thought to be the same species as those occupying the Northern Territory .
The novel species name comes from the Greek words “ kryptos ” for cabalistic or hidden and “ amydros ” for indistinct or dim . The findings were release inZootaxa[pdf ] last month .
The back of this 65 - centimeter ( 26 - inch ) long ophidian is a wan orange - browned with 33 dark bands . Like others in its genus , the new snake in the grass has a diamond - shape head and a portly consistency . But in addition to its unique mitochondrial and atomic gene sequences , the new destruction Vipera berus can also be distinguished by the slimly higher number of cream - color scales on its underbelly . These scale are unpigmented except for one to three row of spots .
Its range within Western Australia widen from the grassy , shrubby woodlands of Wotjulum in the Rebecca West and Kununurra in the due east , and it also occur on some offshore islands admit Koolan , Bigge , Boongaree , Wulalam , and an unnamed island in Talbot Bay . “ Surprisingly , the snakes it most nearly resembles are n’t its closest transmitted relatives , ” Maddock said in astatement . The team ’s mitochondrial DNA analysis indicates that it ’s nearly related to the desert decease adder , A. pyrrhus , and not the Northern Territory death adder , A. rugosus . similarity between the Kimberley demise Vipera berus and others in the domain may have come about through evolutionary convergence : They finish up with the same trait because of their similar environments .
It ’s unclear how many Kimberley death common viper there are in the wild , but according to Maddock , they ’re in all probability quite rare . “ It take care like populations of decease Vipera berus in worldwide are turn down in the area,”Maddock added , “ and there are records of them eating these poisonous cane toads . It ’s potentially a big scourge . ” The highly invading and troublesome toads are making their mode westward across Kimberley .
Ryan Ellis / Western Australian Museum
