‘Mysterious’ mountain creature — not seen in decades — found in China. Take a look
In the mountains of southern China slithered a “mysterious” creature with a yellow “collar.” Something about the animal caught the attention of visiting scientists.
It turned out to be a species not seen in decades.
Researchers visited the mountains of Sichuan Province several times between 2017 and 2022 to survey wildlife, according to a study published July 5 in the peer-reviewed journal Zoosystematics and Evolution. The area was part of a known biodiversity hot spot.
During their visits, researchers found three snakes with distinctive yellow markings, the study said. They took a closer look at the reptiles and realized they’d rediscovered a species not seen in decades: Calamaria berezowskii, or Berezowski’s reed snake.
Berezowski’s reed snakes were first discovered as a new species in 1896. But, after a lack of sightings, later scientists assumed the classification was a mistake. The species hadn’t been seen in at least 26 years, likely longer.
That all changed when researchers found a trio of snakes matching the original 1896 description.
These roughly 1-foot-long animals had a distinctive yellow “collar” around their necks, “blunt” tails and “elongated” bodies, the study said.
A photo shows a Berezowski’s reed snake. Overall, it has a dark brown coloring that blends in with the surrounding leaves. Researchers described its head and tail as having a “similar” appearance.
Reed snakes are rarely seen in the wild because of their “subterranean mode of life, digging behavior and mysterious habits,” researchers said.
Berezowski’s reed snakes live in mountain forests between elevations of about 5,500 and 6,000 feet. They have been found in several counties in Sichuan Province, a roughly 1,300-mile drive southwest from Beijing.
The rediscovered species is named after Michael Berezowski, a “Russian traveler and zoologist” who captured the first specimen in the 1890s.
The species was identified by its scale pattern, eyes, coloring and other subtle physical features, the study said. DNA analysis found the species had at least 17% genetic divergence from other related reed snakes.
The research team included Ya-Ting Liang, Zi-Dan Huang, Li Ding, Gernot Vogel, Natalia Ananjeva, Nikolai Orlov, Sheng-Chao Shi, Zheng-Jun Wu and Ze-Ning Chen.
This story was originally published July 8, 2024 at 12:46 PM with the headline "‘Mysterious’ mountain creature — not seen in decades — found in China. Take a look."
