Still, there is a lot about the animal world that we are still learning, and snakes are a group of creatures that continue to surprise us! One recent discovery revealed a new species of snake that lives in the strangest place: 16,000 feet up on a mountain. Let’s learn about the venomous mountain snake that lives 16,000 feet high!
The Venomous, Mountain-Dwelling Snake that Nobody Knew about
A new species of snake named Gloydius rickmersi was recently discovered in the strangest place. Gloydius rickmersi is a species of viper that belongs to the Gloydius genus, a group of venomous pit vipers that live throughout Asia. These snakes, commonly known as Asian moccasins, are very similar to moccasins in North America, the copperhead and cottonmouth. Although these species are similar to their North American cousins, there are some distinct differences. Still, like other vipers, Gloydius rickmersi is a venomous snake that you probably don’t want to run into! When compared to other vipers, G. rickmersi is pretty small, only 20 inches long or so. Additionally, G. rickmersi lives in a really strange place that most people would never think about when looking for Asian pit vipers.
The Strange Story of how G. rickmersi was Discovered
Like most discoveries, finding G. rickmersi was a total accident. Philipp Wagner, a scientist with the Bavarian State Collection of Zoology, was out in Kyrgystan when a strange specimen was found. The carcass of a snake that had been run over on a remote highway in the mountains had been discovered, and nobody knew what it was. Once the team realized this was a potentially new species, they went looking. Soon, they found a living (and much more intact) specimen that wasn’t flattened. What was strange about the entire event was that the snake was discovered in a place that usually didn’t have reptiles. The cold, inhospitable environment of the mountain deserts generally aren’t hot spots to find reptiles. In fact, only around 12 different reptiles are known to live in the region. Generally, reptiles live below 9,800 feet because of the temperatures. Incredibly, the snake was found at an elevation of 16,000 feet, much higher than is normal. Wagner has already found other species in the region and believes them to be extremely under-reported. There are around six related species that live across Central Asia, Russia, China, and Mongolia.
How Does G. rickmersi Live in the Cold?
There is still a lot of mystery surrounding G. rickmersi. However, researchers believe that these snakes are able to survive the cold due to their smaller size. When compared to other pit vipers, G. rickmersi is much smaller than all of them. In fact, G. rickmersi is only 20 inches long at the max, allowing its body to heat up much faster than other reptiles. The only problem with a snake that can heat up really fast is that it’s drawn to warm places, especially roads. It seems that the survival strategy of the snake doesn’t work too well with human infrastructure.
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