(ORDO NEWS) — A new species of non-venomous snake was discovered in Paraguay: it lives in a small area and is already on the verge of extinction.
As if to cast a spell on fate, the scientists named the snake after the two children to remind themselves and the world that Paraguay’s wildlife conservation efforts are meant to enable posterity to live in a better world.
In the context of the ongoing decline in species diversity , provoked by human activity, more and more news appears in connection with the disappearance of another species of living organisms.
That is why rare news about the discovery of new species carries hope for a better future. And the Paraguayan scientists, who informed the world about the existence of another species of snakes of rare beauty, embodied their hopes in the species name of the reptile.
They named her Phalotris shawnella , after her two children Sean Ariel Smith Fernandez and Ella Bethany Atkinson.
Born in the same year that Para La Tierra was born in 2008, these children inspired its founders to start working to preserve Paraguay’s wildlife in all its original splendor.
A new species of snake was discovered by accident: one of the co-authors of the study was digging a hole on a ranch in 2014 when he came across an individual Phalotris , which did not look like fellow tribesmen.
Other species of this genus, also leading a semi-underground lifestyle, are distinguished by their color – monophonic or lined with narrow dark stripes – while black and red stripes of various widths constantly alternate on the body of Phalotris shawnella .
In addition, you can recognize the “newbie” by the yellowish stripe on the neck and the reddish color of the head.
To date, only three individuals of the new species are known, all of them were found at two points in the territory of the department of San Pedro in eastern Paraguay: apparently, Phalotris shawnella prefers sandy soils for life.
Such a small number of specimens found prompted the authors to consider the new species as “endangered” ( endangered ) in accordance with the categories of conservation status of the International Union for Conservation of Nature.
This means that in the absence of measures to protect it, the new species may disappear in the near future.
Now Phalotris shawnella can only be found in Laguna Blanca – a special tourist and economic zone of Paraguay, declared an extremely important area for the conservation of the diversity of amphibians and reptiles.
According to the authors of the study, their find once again proves the extreme importance of protecting the nature of Laguna Blanca, which was declared a natural reserve for five years, because in fact it is not protected in any way.
Perhaps the discovery of a new species will prompt the government and other environmental organizations to put forward projects to preserve the local ecosystem.
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