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A new species of venomous bandy-bandy snake has been discovered by researchers from The University of Queensland in Weipa.
We don’t want to alarm you, but Australia has a new venomous snake.
Yep, just another animal to add to the already too bloody long list of Aussie animals that could kill you for shits and giggles.
It’s a species of bandy-bandy snake, found at the top of Queensland, near the mining town of Weipa.
University of Queensland’s Bryan Fry lead a team of biologists on the mission that discovered the deadly little fella.
But, as we learned from a press release about the finding, the new bandy-bandy was found by accident; the team was actually out looking for sea snakes.
“Bandy-bandies are burrowing snakes, so Freek Vonk from the Naturalis Museum and I were surprised when we found it on a concrete block by the sea, after coming in from a night of sea snake spotting,” Professor Fry said.
“We later discovered that the snake had slithered over from a pile of bauxite rubble waiting to be loaded onto a ship.
“On examination by my student Chantelle Derez, the bandy-bandy turned out to be a new species, visually and genetically distinct from those found on the Australian East coast and parts of the interior.”
Researchers were about to find another snake of the same species near Weipa.
They also came across another, which had been killed by a car close to the mine.
(Bryan Fry)
All up, the team have five samples of the snake, called Vermicella parscauda, for their study, which was published in Zootaxa this month.
But while a new species of snake is exciting (and, if we’re being honest, mildly terrifying), there’s a hint of sadness to the discovery.
Because researchers reckon these guys are endangered, threatened by mining activity on the west coast of the Cape York Peninsula.
In their report, the research team said there was an “urgent conservation concern” for the future of the species.
“Bauxite mining is a major economic activity in the region, and it may be reshaping the environment to the detriment of native plants and animals,” Fry said.
(Bryan Fry)
“The importance of such discoveries goes beyond simply documenting what is out there, as venoms are rich sources of compounds that can be used to develop new medications.
“Every species is precious and we need to protect them all, since we can’t predict where the next wonder-drug will come from.
“The discovery of this enigmatic little snake is symptomatic of the much more fundamental problem of how little we know about our biodiversity and how much may be lost before we even discover it.”
https://pickle.nine.com.au/2018/07/17/08/40/new-venomous-snake-australia-weipa