New bizarre "ghost snake" species discovered in Madagascar
Experts believe it is a new species of cat-eyed snake.
After hiking nearly 30 km through the rain in Madagascar to reach the grey limestone pinnacles of the Tsingy, a team from the American Museum of Natural History discovered a strange, never-before-seen "ghost snake", pale grey with extraordinary, striking patches of color.
Although the snake has only just been found, scientists are thrilled and eager to study the sudden appearance and mysterious behavior of this "ghost" creature.
Many believe it belongs to the cat-eyed snakes.
According to the description, the "ghost snake" has distinctive eyes with vertical pupils. For this reason, many believe it belongs to the cat-eyed snakes.
However, many experts say the snake is a quite distinct species, as it lacks the bright blue eye color of the cat-eyed snake.
Dr. Sara Ruane of the American Museum of Natural History, lead author of the study, said: "No other snake in Madagascar has the pale coloring and pattern of this newly discovered species.
I think what we need to do now is learn about this new creature. It is very likely a new species of cat-eyed snake, a fairly common group of snakes in Madagascar. But you know, the natural world is vast, and there is still so much left for us to discover."
The snake has been named Madagascarophis lolo.
Because it was found in Madagascar, the snake was named Madagascarophis lolo, with "lolo" meaning "ghost" in Malagasy. It is thought to be closely related to Madagascarophis fuchsi.
The team has now returned to the US to carry out morphological and genetic analyses, along with the rather tedious job of counting the scales on the snakes' bellies to better understand the species.
The experts also collected samples from species thought to be related to Madagascarophis fuchsi and compared three generations of their genetics.
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