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The new Levitonius mirus, also known as Waray’s dwarf snake, is native to the Philippine islands of Samar and Leyte, an archipelago with exceptional biodiversity that includes at least 112 species of land snakes, according to the study.
This species has the smallest number of vertebrae of any snake species in the world, according to the study, and it has a long, narrow skull relative to its size, Weinell explained in a conversation with CNN.
Weinell highlighted the importance of collaboration between US scientists and Filipino scientists, promoting understanding of biodiversity in the region.
Initially, Weinell was interested in learning more about a group of snakes called the Pseudorabdion. “We sequenced the DNA of a multitude of specimens in that group, and it was actually misidentified as belonging to the Pseudorabdion species,” Weinell said.
The snake is the size of a pencil.
The snake is described as a “miniaturized” genus and species, much smaller than its closest relatives, Weinell said. While the Levitonius mirus does not reach more than 17 cm in length, “the size of a pencil … the closest relatives could be three to four times as large.”
The three specimens examined in the study are the only ones ever found, and the snake has never been photographed alive, Weinell said. “There is still good habitat for them to exist, but they live underground, so it is difficult to find them if you don’t have the perfect conditions that could cause them to rise above the ground,” he said.
Weinell anticipates that several of these species will eventually be found in the Philippines, although the fact that these snakes are adapted to underground life could complicate the scientists’ task.
Biodiversity collections allow scientists to go back to specimens and study them further in new ways.
There is much more to discover or rediscover, especially as technology advances and new data becomes available to scientists.
“Now that we are getting whole snake genome data, which changes the way we understand evolution as a whole – in fact, the way we define species continues to change,” Weinell said.
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