Scientists from the Pontifical Catholic University of Ecuador have found three new snake species in the tropical forests of the Northern Andes in South America, which locals have called fishing snakes.
"I have no idea where [the name "fishing snake"] comes from-they don't fish at all," said Omar Torres-Carvajal, biologist and head of the study on the three most recently discovered reptiles, according to National Geographic.
The reptiles, which have dark-colored backs and lighter-colored bellies, have been listed under the genus Synophis. Aside from that knowledge, scientists no longer have any information about the rare snakes. They have yet to find out what the snakes feed on, with only scraps of data suggesting that they feed on lizards. Some data also suggests that the snakes live in underground burrows, which could help explain why they are rarely seen, National Geographic added.
Scientists are also having great troubles assigning the snake to its genus and species family because of two reasons: the type locality of this species is ambiguous ('America meridionale'), preventing the collection of topotypes for comparison, and the fact that there is significant morphological variation between specimens found in the different locations in South America (Ecuador and Peru).
The discovery of these species is only the beginning, as the research team behind the study believes that there could be more out there, given that South America has proven to be a great hot spot for diversity.
The team also shared sentiments regarding the need for a new generation of taxonomists to help clear up the unknown species living about the surface of the Earth.
The study was published in the Dec. 16 issue of the journal ZooKeys.
