An international team of researchers led by University of Central Florida biologist Chris Parkinson has announced the discovery of a new species of venomous pitviper from Costa Rica.
Talamancan palm-pitvipers (Bothriechis nubestris) are found in trees where their green and black pattern provides excellent camouflage. Image credit: University of Central Florida.
Prof. Parkinson and co-authors chose the scientific name Bothriechis nubestris for the new species. It also will be known as the Talamancan palm-pitviper.
The new species is a small to medium sized pitviper, measuring 24 inches (61 cm) on average.
It inhabits a limited area in the north of the Talamancan Cordillera, Costa Rica.
“The newly discovered Talamancan palm-pitviper is a striking green-and-black snake living in some of the most remote regions of Costa Rica,” Prof. Parkinson said.
The coloring is a characteristic the Talamancan palm-pitviper shares with its close relative, the black-speckled palm-pitviper (Bothriechis nigroviridis).
“In fact, these two species look so similar that the Talamancan palm-pitviper went unrecognized for more than a century,” the scientists explained.
“It is a case of cryptic speciation, where two species look almost identical, but are genetically different.”
Research describing the new species is published online in the journal Zootaxa.
“The discovery of this new cryptic species shows the advantages of using modern molecular techniques and phylogenetic reconstructions in the catalog of the planet’s biodiversity,” said co-author Prof. Mahmood Sasa, from the Instituto Clodomiro Picado.
“This research is a good example of the synergies that result from collaborative studies between institutions and countries, each party contributing with their own expertise to achieve common goals.”
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Tiffany M. Doan et al. 2016. A cryptic palm-pitviper species (Squamata: Viperidae: Bothriechis) from the Costa Rican highlands, with notes on the variation within B. nigroviridis. Zootaxa 4138 (2); doi: 10.11646/zootaxa.4138.2.3
