|
Hot Color Changing Snake?
JAKARTA, Indonesia (AP) -- Researchers scouring swamps in the heart
of Borneo island have discovered a venomous species of snake that
can change its skin color, the conservation group WWF announced
Tuesday.
The ability to change skin color is known in some reptiles, such as
the chameleon, but scientists have seen it rarely with snakes and
have not yet understood this phenomenon, the group said in a
statement.
"I put the reddish-brown snake in a dark bucket," said Mark Auliya,
a reptile expert and a consultant for the group. "When I retrieved
it a few minutes later, it was almost entirely white."
Reptiles typically change color to camouflage themselves from
predators.
The 1.6-foot-long snake was discovered last year in wetlands and
swamp forests around the Kapuas River in the Betung Kerihun National
Park in the Indonesian part of Borneo island.
"The discovery of the 'chameleon' snake exposes one of nature's best-
kept secrets. Its ability to change color has kept it hidden from
science until now," said Bambang Supriyanto, a WWF specialist on
Borneo.
Scientists named their find the Kapuas Mud Snake, and speculated it
might only occur in the Kapuas River drainage system.
The WWF, the international group formerly known as World Wildlife
Fund, said 361 animal and plant species have been discovered since
1996 on Borneo, underscoring its unparalleled biological diversity.
But it said that widespread logging has left Borneo with only half
of its former forest cover, down from 75 percent in the mid-1980s.
Indonesia and Malaysia have territory on Borneo, which is also home
to the sultanate of Brunei.
__._,_.___
|
Linear Mode
