Footlong creature found on rainy road in China in first-of-its-kind sighting
On a rainy day in southern China, a 1-foot-long creature emerged from its hiding place and worked its way along a mountain road. Something about the iridescent animal caught the attention of locals — and for good reason.
It turned out to be a first-of-its-kind record.
A team of scientists visited southern Yunnan Province, near the China-Vietnam border, in April as part of a project to survey the region’s amphibians and reptiles, according to a study published Aug. 22 in the peer-reviewed Biodiversity Data Journal.
During the researchers’ visit, locals caught an unfamiliar-looking snake and showed it to the team, the study said. Researchers took a closer look at it, analyzed its DNA and identified it as a Zugs’ odd-scaled snake, or Achalinus zugorum.
Zugs’ odd-scaled snakes are a “poorly-known” and “enigmatic species” found in northern Vietnam and described as a new species in 2020, researchers said. Except for a single male snake, “no other specimens of this species have been reported so far.”
The Zugs’ odd-scaled snake found in Yunnan is the first record of the species in China and the first female of the species ever found, the study said.
Photos show the 13-inch-long snake. Its tail is “moderately long,” its eyes are “quite small” and its scales are “diamond-shaped” and “iridescent in (the) light,” researchers said.
The first Zugs’ odd-scaled snake from northern Vietnam “was collected on a small gravel road, probably being drawn out by heavy rainfall prior to collection,” the study said. “Similarly, the specimen from China was also collected on a road during a rainy day.”
“Therefore, we speculate that this species may be easily discovered on rainy days,” researchers said. They also suggested further survey efforts to collect more snakes and better understand the species.
The two sites where Zugs’ odd-scaled snakes have been found are about 40 miles apart and on opposite sides of the China-Vietnam border, the study said.
The research team included Shuo Liu, JiShan Wang, Mian Hou, Mo Wang and Dingqi Rao.
