Scientists have discovered a species of snake unlike any seen before, but this special serpent wasn't found sliding through its forested habitat in tropical Mexico. The newfound animal made its scientific debut in a more unconventional place: inside another snake’s belly.
Newly described in a recent paper in the Journal of Herpetology, the creature has been dubbed Cenaspis aenigma, which translates to “mysterious dinner snake.” The name derives from the Latin cena (dinner), aspis (a snake variety), and enigma.
This species has unique features that separate it from its relatives, including the shape of its skull, the covering of its hemipenis—its reproductive structure—and the scales under its tail.
Based on certain features of its skeleton and teeth, scientists think Cenaspis is a burrowing snake that likely feeds on insects and spiders. Incredibly, however, the creature has never been found alive—so it’s hard to know precisely what it eats or how it lives, says Jonathan Campbell, a herpetologist at the University of Texas at Arlington who led the research team.
The snake, you see, has evaded detection for 42 years. In 1976, in the southern Mexican state of Chiapas, palm-harvesters working deep in one of the region’s forests found a Central American coral snake—a vibrantly colored species with neurotoxic venom. When researchers obtained it, they found that its last meal was smaller serpent.
This ten-inch-long male snake was something special, as it didn’t match any known species, so the specimen was preserved in a museum collection. The research team returned to the area at least a dozen times over several decades, but came up empty handed.
“This provides evidence of just how secretive some snakes can be,” says Campbell. “Combine their elusive habits with restricted ranges and some snakes do not turn up often.”
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