POTTER All Potterheads excited? One of the founding fathers of the famous Hogwarts now exists in the forests of Arunachal Pradesh. A new type of snake, a bright green viper living in the Arunachal forest areas have been named after Salazar Slytherin from the wizarding world of Harry Potter. The actual name of this pit viper is Trimeresurus Salazar which means Salazar’s pit viper.
WHY THE NAME?
The discoverers of this pit viper were POTTER led by the National Centre for Biological Science of Bangalore.
The character of Salazar Slytherin wasn’t just a founding father POTTER of Hogwarts but also a ‘purse mouth’ which means he could talk and understand snakes. The researchers used such a name as it’s catchy, fun, and easy to remember. Also such a name would draw international attention towards this discovery. Moreover the forests of Arunachal are under severe human threats and their biodiversity needs some serious attention.
The name of this new pit viper has been published in Zoosystematics and Evolution.
WHERE WAS THIS SNAKE DISCOVERED?
Salazar’s pit viper was discovered in the Arunachal forests in north-eastern India at the foot of the Himalayas. Pit vipers have heat-sensing pits on their heads giving them their name. These pits are used to navigate and hunt POTTER prey. Till now around 50 types of pit viper snakes have been discovered.
HOW’S SALAZAR’S PIT VIPER DIFFERENT?
As all pit vipers have similar appearances, POTTER new species get missed. However the Salazar’s pit viper, though very much similar to other pit vipers, has a vivid orange stripe on its head and has a different number of teeth. The hemipenis shape is also unique.
The new species was confirmed after analyzing its DNA.
