Rare & exotic snake species discovered in Mizoram

Reptile species named after 'powerful' warrior

AIZAWL: A rare snake species has been discovered in Mizoram — only the third species of the Stoliczkia genus in India.

It has been named Stoliczkia vanhnuailianai in honour of Vanhnuailiana, a Mizo warrior who was one of the most powerful chiefs of the Lushai Hills (now Mizoram) during the mid-1800s. The snake has also been given a common name 'Lushai hills dragon snake'. The Mizo name for it is 'Rulphusin', which means a 'snake with small scales'.

The species, believed to be one of the rarest in the world, is non-venomous and was discovered in the State's Phulpui area by researchers from the Mizoram University.

They recorded the snake in March but the findings of their study were published in the peer-reviewed journal Zootaxa on 6 July. The research team has been quoted as saying that it is one of the "most important discoveries of this century" because the last time Rulphusin's sister species, called Stoliczkia khasiensis, was found was in 1904.

Earlier, a rare venomous snake was found alive for the first time in Uttarakhand. This rare species of snake has been discovered by the scientists of the Wildlife Institute of India (WII) at an altitude of 6,233 feet in the Benog Wildlife Sanctuary of Mussoorie.

The scientists spotted the black-bellied coral snake (Sinomicrurus nigriventer) — a rare and threatened species found in altitudes between 2,500 and 6,000 feet — on the way to Bhadraj temple. According to scientists, this is an extremely rarely-found and venomous snake. (Agencies)

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