Nujiang Pit Viper and Glacier Pit Viper
Two new species of vipers of the genus Gloydius have been described by scientists from Heishui in Sichuan and Zayu in Tibet.
About Pit Vipers
- Pit vipers of the genus Gloydius are poisonous snakes found mainly in northern Asia
- The species called Halys pit viper (Gloydius halys) range as far as southern Europe.
- These little snakes are quite common and have been marked to different habitats.
- There are currently more than 20 scientifically recognized Gloydius species, which mainly belong to three groups: the Gloydius intermediushalys complex, the Gloydius blomhoffii complex and the Gloydius strauchi complex.
New Discovery
The two new species which have been described as the glacier pit viper (Gloydius swild) and the Nujiang pit viper (Gloydius lipipengi). They belong to the complex Gloydius strauchi. The Nujiang Pit Viper has a grayish-brown back with irregular ring-shaped black transverse bands with wide grayish-brown stripes behind the eyes and relatively short fangs. The glacier viper is bluish-gray in color, with zigzag stripes on the back and relatively narrow stripes behind the eyes.
Location of the new species
The Nujiang Pit Viper is known from only one place: Muza Village, Zayu, Tibet. The Glacier Viper can be found in the eastern part of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau and the Hengduanshan Mountains in Heishui Land in northern Sichuan, about 15 km from Dagu Holyglacier National Geological Park. The discovery of the Glacier Viper suggests that glaciers could be considered key factors in the isolation and speciation of alpine vipers in south-western China. This discovery of the new species has been described in the journal named ZooKeys.
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