Snake discovered in northern Vietnam new species, journal confirms

By Phan Anh December 9, 2020 | 09:36 pm PT

Lateral, dorsal, and ventral views of the head of the holotype of Achalinus zugorum. Photo courtesy of the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History/via Vietnam Academy of Science and Technology.

A snake with iridescent scales discovered in the northern Ha Giang Province last year is a new species, a scientific journal has reported.

The snake, named Zugs' odd-scaled snake (Achalinus zugorum), was discovered by researchers from the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History in the U.S. and the Vietnam Academy of Science and Technology during biodiversity surveys in Bac Me District, U.S. non-profit scientific research publisher BioOne said on Monday.

The snake’s scales shift between blues and greens in the light.

Researchers said they could not immediately figure out its species as it looked so different, CNN said.

The genus Achalinus, commonly known as odd-scaled snakes due to their unique scutellation, whose scales spread out instead of overlapping, has only 14 known species now. Vietnam is known to have six of them, with three being considered endemic.