Zoologist discovers ‘crying’ snake in Arunachal Pradesh

Itanagar, Feb 14: Snakes have been known to make only hissing sound but a zoologist in Arunachal Pradesh's newly formed Lepa Rada district has discovered a species of the reptile that also 'cry', causing quite a sensation in the world of zoology.

As reported by The Hindu, Jayaditya Purkayastha, a zoologist based in Guwahati, Assam, claimed to have located the unique snake in Arunachal's Barsar district.

The reptile's zoological name has been found to be 'Hebius Lacrima' and it is identified to be without venom and its details were recently published in a scientific journal.

"The name for this keelback was suggested because of a dark spot under its eyes looking like a black tear that interrupts a white stripe running along the upper jaw to the back of its head and beyond," Purkayastha was quoted as saying by the daily.

Purkayastha found the snake in a paddy field on the outskirts of Basar and it measured almost 49 centimetres in length and it had to be compared with 44 other species of the reptile for completion of its identification.

"I had data on 20 species of this genus. So I collaborated with Patrick David of the Paris-based National Museum of Natural History who had data on another 22," the zoologist said.

North-east India is home to 110 species of snakes out of the total 3,700-plus species found across the world. In Arunachal only, 55 species are found.