Already home to the highest concentration of venomous snakes in the world, Australia can now add yet another species of deadly, slithering reptile to its roster thanks to the recent discovery of the Kimberley death adder by a team of local and UK-based herpetologists.
According to The Telegraph and the Huffington Post, the Kimberley death adder (Acanthophis cryptamydros) was named for the remote region of Western Australia in which it was originally discovered. It is an orange-and-brown snake that is about 20 inches long, has a head shaped like a diamond, and is a “sit-and-wait” predator that stays camouflaged before striking.
The discovery, which was reported in the journal Zootaxa, adds to a growing list of poisonous creatures that call Australia home. In fact, according to published reports, the continent is home to 20 of the 25 deadliest snakes on Earth, including every single member of the top ten.
Death adder is among the 10 deadliest snakes on Earth
Study author Paul Doughty from the Western Australian Museum told The Guardian that it was “a surprise to see that the Kimberley has its own death adder,” adding that the newly indentified relative of desert death adders was one of “the top 10 venomous snakes in the world.”
“These snakes are super-camouflaged – its idea is to look like a rock or a bunch of leaves,” he added. “Unlike a brown snake they aren’t designed for speed at all, they are quite slow. They use their tail like a lure, they will dangle it down while it’s hidden until a lizard or something comes close and then it will strike.”
Doughty and his colleagues compared genetic material from the species to other types of snakes, including desert death adders, as well as the physical characteristics of the reptiles. They used an estimated 20 exampled of the species that had previously been collected, as well as 15 specimens of the creature, ABC News Australia reported earlier this month.
The Kimberley death adder is said to be extremely rare, with Doughty telling ABC News that he had only ever seen one in the wild, despite spending many years studying the reptiles in northern Australia. Its low numbers, coupled with the fact that it lives in relatively isolated regions of the commonwealth, mean that it is not a significant threat to humans, UPI said.
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Feature Image: The Kimberley death adder (Acanthophis cryptamydros) lying in wait. (Credit: Ryan Ellis, Western Australian Museum)
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