LookAtVietnam – Russian and Vietnamese scientists have announced the discovery of a new species of snake in Loc Bac forest in the Central Highlands province of Lam Dong.

The new species is named Coluberoelaps and belongs to the water-snake family and has neither fangs nor poison.

This snake looks like a cross between a water snake (Coluber) and copperhead (Elaps)so its Latin name is the combination of the two – Coluberoelaps.

Its species name is named after Dr. Nguyen Van Sang, from the Institute for Ecology and Creature Resources, who found the specimen and to honor his great contribution in research of reptile and amphibians in Vietnam.

The Vietnamese name of this snake is nguyen van sang snake and its full scientific name is Coluberoelaps nguyenvansangi Orlov, Kharin, Ananjeva, Nguyen & Nguyen, 2009.

The standard specimen of this snake was collected in Lam Dong in 2003 in a biodiversity survey funded by the World Wildlife Fund Indochina.

VietNamNet/VNE