A new species of snake was discovered in the stomach of another snake

Scientists have recently discovered a new species of snake. So far, nothing special, because in recent years dozens of new animal species have been discovered. But this animal has something special: it was not discovered crawling through the rainforest of Mexico, which is its natural habitat, but in an unconventional place: in the stomach of another snake. Recently described for the first time in the scientific journal Journal of Herpetology , the creature was named "Cenaspis aenigma", in translation "the mysterious serpent-dinner". Based on skeletal and dental features, scientists have hypothesized that Cenaspis feeds on insects and digs its shelter underground.

It has been hidden for decades

This is what the coral snake looks like, the animal in whose belly the mysterious specimen was discovered

"Surprisingly, the creature was never found alive. That's why it's hard to determine exactly how he eats or lives, "said Jonathan Campbell, a herpetologist at the University of Texas.

In 1976, workers harvesting palm trees in the depths of a forest in the Mexican region of Chiapas discovered a coral snake (a brightly colored species with neurotoxic venom). When the creature fell into their hands, the scientists discovered that its last mass had been a smaller snake.

This second reptile, 25 centimeters long, was something special, because it could not be included in any known species. The species of the snake eaten by another snake remained unknown for 42 years.

Therefore, the copy was kept in the collection of a museum. Over the next few decades, scientists have tried to classify the snake dozens of times, but each attempt has failed.

A special species

A representation of the new species, made on a computer

Finally, in 2018, herpetologists managed to decipher the mystery of the "dinner snake". The findings of the Campbell-led team, published in the Journal of Herpetology , identify Cenaspis as not just a new species, but a whole new genus.

The only 25 cm male that represents both the genus and the species, has a belly decorated with three triangular shapes. It also has some scales on its belly that give it a striped appearance. The ventral pattern is no longer found in any other snake in Central America.

In addition, the animal's hemipenis (sexual organs) do not have the protuberances usually found on these organs. Instead, they have cup-shaped structures that look like honeycombs from another world.

Campbell believes that in the forests of Central America there are other specimens of the enigmatic snake, digging burrows and using various techniques to avoid being detected.

"This is proof that some snakes hide very well. If we take into account this and the fact that they do not move too much, we can understand why these snakes are seen so rarely ", concluded Campbell.