2-foot-long creature with ‘secretive’ lifestyle found in Vietnam. It’s a new species
In a darkened forest of central Vietnam, a 2-foot-long creature with “enlarged” teeth climbed through a tree. Its “secretive” lifestyle made it “uncommon” to see, and, when occasionally found, its appearance caused it to be misidentified.
But it turned out to be a new species.
Scientists hiked into the forests of Quảng Bình Province several times in recent years to survey wildlife, Tan Van Nguyen and Gernot Vogel wrote in a study published Jan. 20 in the peer-reviewed journal Zootaxa.
Over the course of their visits, researchers found four vaguely familiar-looking snakes, the study said. At first, the reptiles were thought to be a known and “widespread” species, but when researchers looked closer, they noticed some discrepancies between the snakes.
Researchers slowly realized they’d discovered a new species: Lycodon poyarkovi, or Poyarkov’s big-tooth snake.
Poyarkov’s big-tooth snakes are considered “medium-large,” reaching up to 32 inches in length, the study said. Their heads have “large” nostrils, “large” eyes and several “enlarged” teeth.
Photos show the striped coloring of the new species. Overall, its body is black with dozens of “pinkish orange” bands running down its body.
Poyarkov’s big-tooth snakes are “secretive” and “quite uncommon,” so much of their lifestyle remains unknown, the study said. They are nocturnal; they probably eat “frogs and snakes,” and they live in the forest.
Researchers saw Poyarkov’s big-tooth snakes “in small puddles,” on the “edges of small and medium streams,” moving along the ground and slithering up trees.
The new species is “completely harmless” but looks similar to some venomous krait snakes, “so it usually falls victim to unjustful killing,” Van Nguyen wrote in a Jan. 19 Facebook post.
Researchers said they named the new species after Nikolay Poyarkov, “in recognition of his contribution to the herpetology, especially on the Indo-Burma region including Vietnam” and because he was the “first” to suspect it might be a new species.
So far, Poyarkov’s big-tooth snakes have only been found at two sites in Quảng Bình Province, a region of central Vietnam and roughly midway between Hanoi to the north and Ho Chi Minh City to the south. Researchers expect the new species to live in neighboring provinces of Vietnam and Laos.
The new species was identified by its scale arrangement, coloring, body size and other subtle physical features, the study said. Researchers did not provide a DNA analysis of the new species.
This story was originally published January 22, 2025 at 1:21 PM with the headline "2-foot-long creature with ‘secretive’ lifestyle found in Vietnam. It’s a new species."
