Trimeresurus salazar

Trimeresurus salazar, also known as Salazar's pit viper, is a species of green pit viper discovered in the lowlands of the western part of Arunachal Pradesh, India.[1]

Trimeresurus salazar
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Reptilia
Order: Squamata
Suborder: Serpentes
Family: Viperidae
Genus: Trimeresurus
Species:
T. salazar
Binomial name
Trimeresurus salazar
Mirza et al., 2020

It was named after Salazar Slytherin from the Harry Potter series.[2]

Name Origin

The name of this snake was named in July 2019 after Salazar Slytherin from the Harry Potter series by a herpetological expedition to Arunachal Pradesh, India.[3] In the Harry Potter series, Salazar Slytherin is described as a Parselmouth in which he can communicate with snakes and the house he founded in Hogwarts, Slytherin is associated with the color green.

Appearance

These vipers are green in color but also have yellow, black, orange, red, or gold markings.[4] On males, they have a unique reddish orange on their heads. Their appearance is different to the trimeresurus albolabris, trimeresurus septentrionalis, and the trimeresurus insularis because of the number of teeth and the shape of its hemipenis.[5]

References
  1. Mirza, Zeeshan A.; Bhosale, Harshal S.; Phansalkar, Pushkar U.; Sawant, Mandar; Gowande, Gaurang G.; Patel, Harshil (2020-04-15). "A new species of green pit vipers of the genus Trimeresurus Lacépède, 1804 (Reptilia, Serpentes, Viperidae) from western Arunachal Pradesh, India". Zoosystematics and Evolution. 96 (1): 123–138. doi:10.3897/zse.96.48431. ISSN 1860-0743.
  2. Asmelash, Leah (April 22, 2020). "Scientists discover a new snake and name it after Salazar Slytherin". CNN.
  3. "One point for Slytherin: New Indian pit viper named after Harry Potter character". Mongabay Environmental News. 2020-04-29. Retrieved 2020-06-27.
  4. de Lazaro, Enrico (April 22, 2020). "New Species of Pit Viper Discovered in India". Sci-News. Retrieved June 27, 2020.
  5. Starr, Michelle (April 23, 2020). "New Species of Slithering Snake Has Been Named For Salazar Slytherin". ScienceAlert. Retrieved June 27, 2020.


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