New pit viper species discovered in Thailand’s Thale Ban National Park

A novel species of pit viper, the smallest in its venomous subfamily, has been discovered by personnel at Thale Ban National Park in Satun, a southern province of Thailand.

Saengsuree Songthong, the national park’s chief, along with his assistant Nakhen Kaweethanatham and research official Bunyarit Dechochai, stumbled upon the hitherto unknown species of pit vipers during a short break under a limestone shelter.

In order to ascertain the species of the snakes, they took photographs and shared them with a researcher. It was later confirmed that the team had indeed discovered a new species, reported Bangkok Post.

Saengsuree revealed that the newfound species, scientifically christened Trimeresurus ciliaris, is also known as the limestone eyelash pit viper. It bears close resemblance to the Trimeresurus venustus, or the beautiful pit viper.

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