2-foot-long creature — with yellow eyes — found on tree in China. It’s a new species

Aspen Pflughoeft
·2 min read
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Under the cover of darkness, an “elongated” creature moved along the branch of a tree in southern China. Something about the 2-foot-long animal caught the attention of visiting scientists — and for good reason. It turned out to be a new species.

Researchers ventured into a nature reserve in Yunnan province as part of a wildlife survey in 2023, according to a study published Jan. 27 in the peer-reviewed journal Animals.

While surveying the forest, researchers found three striped snakes they didn’t recognize, the study said. They captured the animals and, after taking a closer look, realized they’d discovered a new species: Pareas guanyinshanensis, or the Guanyinshan slug-eating snake.

Guanyinshan slug-eating snakes can reach over 2 feet in length, researchers said. They have “elongated” bodies, “wide and blunt” snouts and yellow eyes.

Photos show two Guanyinshan slug-eating snakes. The reptiles have an orange-brown coloring with darker brown-black stripes. One snake is wrapped around a small tree branch while another is stretched out in some leaves.

Two Pareas guanyinshanensis, or Guanyinshan slug-eating snakes, in their natural habitat.
Two Pareas guanyinshanensis, or Guanyinshan slug-eating snakes, in their natural habitat.

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Guanyinshan slug-eating snakes were found at night on tree branches and on the ground near a forested stream, the study said. The new species belongs to a “group of highly specialized snakes that only feed on snails or slugs,” but its exact diet has not been studied.

Researchers said they named the new species after the Guanyinshan Provincial Nature Reserve where it was discovered and, so far, the only area where it has been found.

The reserve is in Yunnan province, near the China-Vietnam-Laos border, and about 1,700 miles southwest from Beijing.

The new species was identified by its scale pattern, size, coloring and geographic location, the study said. DNA analysis found the new species had at least 4% genetic divergence from other slug-eating snakes.

The research team included Shuo Liu, Mingzhong Mo, Mei Li, Biao Li, Xiong Luo, Dingqi Rao and Song Li.

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