A previously unseen snake with bladed teeth was discovered in a cave.

Scientists call the discovery a completely new species

Two reptile hunters discovered a new species of snake in Thailand with blade-like fangs. It is reported to have ribbed scales on its lower abdomen, allowing the snake to “climb vertical rocks.”

Photo: ru.wikipedia.org

According to one reptile hunter, who called his find the Kukri cave snake, or Oligodon speleoserpens, the snake is “especially adapted to life in this harsh environment.”

Evolutionary biologists who helped reptile hunters classify the new snake said it had two «enlarged, blade-shaped upper teeth.» The creature and its climbing ridges provide «strong evidence» pointing to an entirely new species.

Hunters had to climb five stories high to obtain samples of the new species of reptile.

Young Expert on reptiles, Harry Ward-Smith, reported that one specimen, or «paratype» new cave snake Kukri was caught climbing a nearly 50-foot cliff.

“It was incredibly risky, but I had no choice but to climb up there without a safety net. I knew the importance of this snake and I was not going to let it escape us under any circumstances,” – Ward-Smith shared on social media.

Ward-Smith's partner on this dangerous mission through the mountainous provinces of Trang and Satun in southern Thailand, Rupert Grassby-Lewis of the wildlife tourism group Explore Herpetology, called the find «extremely significant»: «It has an absolutely stunning ecology: it lives inside and around caves on steep limestone karst cliffs and feeds exclusively on reptile eggs.

Herpetologist and guide Grassby-Lewis added that the new snake preys primarily on the eggs of two native gecko species.

Reptile researchers from Moscow State University. Lomonosov and the University of Michigan, which helped young reptile hunters publish their new discoveries, said that other specimens of snakes may exist deep in underground mountain caves.

“These assumptions can only be confirmed if additional observations of O. speleoserpens are made in the future,” – scientists write in their article published in April of this year in the journal Vertebrate Zoology.

The body of the rock-dwelling cave snake is light brown, with a lighter shade closer to the head and a black border around individual scales.

Although only three specimens of the new snake were captured for this first study, these specimens were sufficient to clearly identify O. speleoserpens as a new species, due in part to its «climbing grasp» under the abdomen.

«The presence of keeled ventral scales, – write the researchers, – helps maintain traction on rough vertical surfaces.»

A duo of reptile hunters began their expedition in search of specimens of an entirely different, recently discovered species: Trimeresurus ciliaris («limestone viper»).