Chengdu: A team of Chinese scientists has discovered a new species of snake in the West China Rainforest, primarily located in Sichuan, naming it the "West China Mountain Snake."
According to Thai News Agency, between 2020 and 2025, researchers from the Chengdu Institute of Biology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Qinghai University, and other institutions identified several non-venomous snakes in the Chengdu National Park and the dense forest areas on Emei Mountain. These snakes, each about 80 centimeters long, were compared to the more well-known Plagiopholis styani, or Chinese mountain viper, and confirmed to be a distinct species. This marks the first new snake species identified in nearly a century.
The Western China Mountain Snake (Plagiopholis pluvialis) is a diurnal creature, primarily feeding on earthworms and slugs. It is distinguished by an inverted V-shaped pattern on its neck. The western China Rainforest, known for its high biodiversity, receives an average annual rainfall of around 2,000 mm. Researchers believe this discovery highlights the scientific significance of the area as a "hotspot" of biological evolution and underscores the crucial role of giant panda national parks in preserving biodiversity.
The findings related to this discovery were published in the international peer-reviewed journal Zoosystematics and Evolution in September.