Himalayan Snake Discovered and Named in Tribute to Star Leonardo DiCaprio

In nature, animals are often named after something that characterizes them: their habitat, their color, their size… and sometimes that of the person who discovered them. However, one of the snakes that is the subject of a study published in the journal Scientific reports October 21, 2024 was named in tribute to the actor committed to the environmental cause, Leonardo DiCaprio. So find out Anguiculus dicaprioi.

After The Wolf of Wall Street here is the Himalayan snake

So you will have understood, the snake that we are presenting to you today was named in homage to the star of Titanic (1997) or The Revenant (2015), Leonardo DiCaprio.

It was in June 2020, when the whole world was at a standstill as a direct result of the COVID-19 pandemic, that a man discovered the snake in his garden in the state of Himachal Pradesh in the North. Western India. Taken by the impulse of an animal photographer, he captured his find in images and decided to post it all on social networks.

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A post shared by Virender Bhardwaj (@himalayan_xplorer)

Photographs of the Western Himalayan Snake eventually made it to the feed of the herpetologist and biologist of Max Planck Institute for BiologyZeeshan A. Mirza. Three years of investigation then followed in order to find and identify this previously unknown species.

A whole new species of snake

First confused with another species, Liopeltis rappia snake from the family of Colubridae living particularly in the eastern part of the Himalayas, the hypothesis was abandoned by comparing the new snake to other specimens. Indeed, the shape of its head as well as its color did not correspond in any way to the species from the eastern Himalayas.

During the investigation, Zeeshan A. Mirza, lead author of the study published on October 21, 2024, also carried out DNA testing and analysis of this snake. Here again white cabbage. Indeed, the sequences did not match any other species that could be found throughout Asia.

They then had, before them, a new species of snake.

A long-term work which therefore gave birth to a new genus and a new species of snake. A fact explained by the main author of the study on his Instagram account:

“Colubrid snakes of the genera Liopeltis and Gongylosoma are rare and little studied among Asian snakes. We undertook a study which made it possible to define these genera and to describe a new genus endemic to the Himalayas and a new species.”

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A post shared by Zeeshan A. Mirza (@zeeshan_a_mirza)

So the new genre is Anguiculus and it includes two distinct species:

• Anguiculus rappii: a species already known since 1860 but which has been defined more precisely

• Anguiculus dicaprioi : a new species

What do we know about Anguiculus dicaprioi ?

Thanks to the work of Zeeshan A. Mirza and his team it was therefore possible to bring to light a new genus and a new species of snake, we know a little more about these reptiles.

Contrary to Anguiculus rappiiwhich occupies the eastern Himalayas, Anguiculus dicaprioi mainly occupies the center and west of the Asian mountain range. Measuring just under 30 centimeters, it is mainly found at an altitude of around 1500 meters in the Himalayan mountains.

It remains to be seen whether his name will open the doors he needs in this remote region of the world.

Source : Scientific Reports /NDTV