The venomous snake was discovered in low to mid elevation areas of central and southern Vietnam.
Researchers have discovered a new Asian green pitiviper species of the genus Trimeresurus living in tropical rainforests of Vietnam. The venomous snake, Trimeresurus cyanolabris sp. nov. joins 49 recognized species in the genus.
Researchers conducted their fieldwork in Nui Chua and Phuoc Binh National Parks in February and March of 2023. Specimens were collected with snake hooks and photographed in life.
FIGURE 4. Type specimens of Trimeresurus cyanolabris sp. nov. in life from Nui Chua NP, Ninh Thuan Province, Vietnam: A holotype ZMMU Re-17679, adult male; B paratype ZMMU Re-17681, adult female. Photographs by A.M. Bragin (A) and N.A. Poyarkov (B)
The venomous snake has a snout to vent length of 638 mm, bright yellow eyes in both sexes. Males also sports a ventrolateral stripe that is barely noticeable on the first few dorsal scale rows. The females lack this stripe. It is morphologically similar to Trimeresurus rubeus but diverges significantly in cytochrome b mitochondrial DNA gene sequences, the researchers wrote.
Venomous Pit Viper Species of the Trimeresurus albolabris Complex Described
New Species of Venomous Pit Viper Discovered In Myanmar
Trimeresurus cyanolabris sp. nov. lives in low- to mid- elevation areas at altitudes between 90 and 400 meters above sea level. Its habitat is central-southern Vietnam’s tropical rainforests, according to the researchers. The researchers include Sabira Idiiatullina, Tan Van Nguyen, Andrey Bragin, Parinya Pawangkhanant, le Xuan Dac, Gernot Vogel, Patrick David, and Nikolay Poyarkov.
The complete paper, “A new species of green pitviper of the Trimeresurus macrops complex (Reptilia: Serpentes: Viperidae) from South Central Coastal Region of Vietnam” can be read on the Zootaxa/ResearchGate.net website.
