• Email Us: [email protected]
  • Contact Us: +1 718 874 1545
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar

Medical Market Report

  • Home
  • All Reports
  • About Us
  • Contact Us

Five New Species Of Fabulous Eyelash Vipers Discovered In Remote Colombia And Ecuador

February 13, 2024 by Deborah Bloomfield

A single species of eyelash viper already sounds cool – the prominent spiny scales above their eyes give them a distinctive and, dare we say it, iconic look. Now, after a decade-long study, the number of species is about to multiply, as researchers have discovered that what was thought to be one species of eyelash viper is, in fact, five.

The trigger to this discovery was one of the study’s authors, Lucas Bustamante, being bitten by a member of one of the new species – not much fun for the researcher we imagine, but great news for science. The team also found that the “lashes” seen on vipers appeared to vary in length and style across different populations, suggesting that what was believed to be the eyelash palm-pit viper (Bothriechis schlegelii) could actually be more than one species.

Advertisement

From that point on, the researchers spent 10 years examining museum specimens, locality records, and DNA data relating to individual eyelash vipers found in the cloud forests and jungles of Colombia and Ecuador.

Black-and-yellow morph of Hussain’s Eyelash-Pitviper sitting on a branch

Black-and-yellow morph of Hussain’s eyelash pit viper.

Image credit: Alejandro Arteaga (CC BY)

Their analysis revealed what is likely a complex of five very similar, but distinct, species of eyelash viper. Shah’s (B. rasikusumorum), Klebba’s (B. klebbai), and Khwarg’s eyelash pit viper (B. khwargi) are thought to be endemic to the eastern Cordillera of Colombia, found amongst cloud forests and coffee plantations. Rahim’s (Bothriechis rahimi) eyelash pit viper, on the other hand, is located at the border between Colombia and Ecuador in the Chocó rainforest, whilst Hussain’s (B. hussaini) is found in the forests bordering Ecuador and Peru.

All of the species are considered to be polychromatic, meaning they come in a dazzling array of colors that are theorized to allow them to blend into a variety of ambush spots. Even within the same species, it’s possible to find a turquoise, gold, and even “ghost” morph. “No two individuals have the same coloration, even those belonging to the same litter (yes, they give birth to live young),” said Alejandro Arteaga, who led the study, in a statement.

Coffee morph of Klebba's eyelash pit viper.

Coffee morph of Klebba’s eyelash pit viper.

Image credit: Elson Meneses (CC BY)

As well as being pretty, the vipers also pack a punch. All of the new species are venomous – though thankfully for Bustamante, not quite as much as some of their relations. “The venom of some (perhaps all?) of the new species of vipers is considerably less lethal and hemorrhagic than that of the typical Central American Eyelash-Viper,” said Bustamante, who was bitten back in 2013.

Advertisement

“I experienced intermittent local pain, dizziness and swelling, but recovered shortly after receiving three doses of antivenom in less than two hours after the bite, with no scar left behind.”

Though the variety of colors and a nip to a researcher’s finger might be exciting parts of the story, the key message from the researchers is that the new species need to be protected; four out of the five are considered at high risk of extinction.

“The need to protect eyelash vipers is critical, since unlike other snakes, they cannot survive without adequate canopy cover,” said Arteaga. “Their beauty, though worthy of celebration, should also be protected and monitored carefully, as poachers are notorious for targeting charismatic arboreal vipers for the illegal pet trade of exotic wildlife.”

Advertisement

It’s hoped that further research, particularly into the venom of the new species, will help to bring awareness to the situation and encourage the conservation of this colorful and unique group of reptiles. 

The study is published in the journal Evolutionary Systematics.

Deborah Bloomfield
Deborah Bloomfield

Related posts:

  1. Paris ramps up security as jihadist attacks trial starts
  2. Cricket-‘Western bloc’ has let Pakistan down, board chief says
  3. Ancient Bison Found In Permafrost Is So Well Preserved Scientists Want To Clone It
  4. Where Inside Us Do We Feel Love?

Source Link: Five New Species Of Fabulous Eyelash Vipers Discovered In Remote Colombia And Ecuador

Filed Under: News

Primary Sidebar

  • “The Body Is Slowly And Continuously Heated”: 14,000-Year-Old Smoked Mummies Are World’s Oldest
  • Pizza Slices, Polaroid Pictures, And Over 300 Hats: What’s Left Behind In Yellowstone’s Hydrothermal Areas?
  • The Mathematical Paradox That Lets You Create Something From Nothing
  • Ancient Asteroid Ripped Apart In Collision Had Flowing Water
  • Flying Foxes Include The World’s Biggest Bat And The Largest Mammal Capable Of True Flight
  • NASA Responds To Claims That Interstellar Object 3I/ATLAS Is An Advanced Alien Spacecraft
  • Millions Of Tons Of Gold Are In Earth’s Oceans, Potentially Worth Over $2 Quadrillion
  • The Race Back To The Moon: US Vs China, Will What Happens Next Change The Future?
  • NOAA Issues G3 Geomagnetic Storm Warning As 500,000 Kilometer Hole Sends Solar Wind At Earth
  • Lasting 776 Days, This Is The Longest Case Of COVID-19 Ever Recorded
  • Living Cement: The Microbes In Your Walls Could Power The Future
  • What Can Your Earwax Reveal About Your Health?
  • Ever Seen A Giraffe Use An Inhaler? Now You Can, And It’s Incredibly Wholesome
  • Martian Mudstone Has Features That Might Be Biosignatures, New Brain Implant Can Decode Your Internal Monologue, And Much More This Week
  • Crocodiles Weren’t All Blood-Thirsty Killers, Some Evolved To Be Plant-Eating Vegetarians
  • Stratospheric Warming Event May Be Unfolding In The Southern Polar Vortex, Shaking Up Global Weather Systems
  • 15 Years Ago, Bees In Brooklyn Appeared Red After Snacking Where They Shouldn’t
  • Carnian Pluvial Event: It Rained For 2 Million Years — And It Changed Planet Earth Forever
  • There’s Volcanic Unrest At The Campi Flegrei Caldera – Here’s What We Know
  • The “Rumpelstiltskin Effect”: When Just Getting A Diagnosis Is Enough To Start The Healing
  • Business
  • Health
  • News
  • Science
  • Technology
  • +1 718 874 1545
  • +91 78878 22626
  • [email protected]
Office Address
Prudour Pvt. Ltd. 420 Lexington Avenue Suite 300 New York City, NY 10170.

Powered by Prudour Network

Copyrights © 2025 · Medical Market Report. All Rights Reserved.

Go to mobile version