Experts
came across the Atretochoana eiselti, which experts have dubbed the
“floppy snake”, as they examined a hydroelectric dam on a river in the
Amazon.
Six of the eyeless creatures — actually a family of “blind snake”
more closely related to the salamander — were found living at the bottom
of the Madeira River in Brazil’s northern state of Rondonia.
The discovery was made in November last year as a stretch of the
river was being drained, but was only made public today after the
snake’s genus was finally confirmed.
Julian Tupan, biologist for the Santo Antonio Energy company which is
building the dam, told Brazil’s Estadao website that hardly anything is
known about the lungless, limbless amphibians.
He said: “Of the six we collected, one died, three were released back into the wild and another two were kept for studies.
“Despite looking like snakes, they aren’t reptiles and are more closely related to salamanders and frogs.
“We think the animal breathes through its skin, and probably feeds on small fish and worms, but there is still nothing proven.
“The Amazon is a box of surprises when it comes to reptiles and amphibians. There are still much more to be discovered.”
thesun
1 comment:
Nice share, very Interesting, And the snake is very ugly :-D
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