'Chameleon-snake' discovered
Tuesday, 27 Jun 2006 08:13
'Chameleon-snake' discovered
Science In Focus
Click here to see how British small businesses are creating innovative, low carbon business ideas, on inthenews.co.uk. Full Story
Scientists have discovered a new species of snake which can change its skin pigment to match its surroundings.
Dr Mark Auliya, reptile expert at the Zoologisches Forschungsmuseum Alexander Koenig in Germany and a consultant for WWF, discovered the half-metre long snake's colourful capabilities last year during a research trip to Borneo with two US scientists.
"I put the reddish-brown snake in a dark bucket. When I retrieved it a few minutes later, it was almost entirely white," Dr Auliya said.
The new snake is the 22nd variety of the rare genus enhydris to be discovered, which has only established dominance in two of the species' types. The reptile is thought to be extremely rare, existing only in the drainage system of the river valley in which it was discovered.
"The discovery of the 'chameleon' snake exposes one of nature's best kept secrets deep in the heart of Borneo. Its ability to change colour has kept it hidden from science until now," said Stuart Chapman, WWF's international coordinator of the Heart of Borneo programme.
Mr Chapman used the discovery of the rare snake's extraordinary abilities to highlight the plethora of natural beauty currently being lost due to deforestation in Borneo.
The island's forest cover has been depleted from 75 to 50 per cent of its original extent in the past two decades, although 361 new species of flora and fauna have been discovered in the last ten years.