New snake species – Trachischium apteii found in Arunachal

A non-venomous burrowing new species of snake has been found in Arunachal Pradesh which name is Trachischium apteii. It was found under fallen logs inside a thickly forested area of the Tally Valley Wildlife Sanctuary near the town of Ziro in Arunachal Pradesh during a field expedition by researchers in July 2019.

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Three specimens of the new species were found in field that helped diagnose the new species,” states the paper published by three researchers — Harshal Bhonsle, Gaurang Gowande and Zeeshan Mirza — in the international science journal Comptes Rendus Biologies. Trachischium apteii was named so to honour the contribution of Deepak Apte, well-known marine biologist and Director of the BNHS. Trachischium species are commonly called slender snakes, and are currently known by seven species that are distributed across the Himalayas, and the Indo-Burma and Indo-China regions.