As one of the epicenter of modern scientific discipline , the United Kingdom is one of the most studied regions on this satellite . That ’s why it ’s surprising when scientist attain a new species within the island nations ’ shore , and even more so when it turns out that new species is a fairly large craniate to boot .
InScience Advances , research worker line a new species of snake in the UK , now known as the barred smoke snake ( Natrix sans serif ) . antecedently , it was thought to be a slightly different patterned subspecies of the vulgar Gunter Grass snake in the grass ( Natrix natrix ) . live in the UK , France , Switzerland , Italy , and Western Germany , N helveticais not only dissimilar in coloring material , but also genetically divergent enough to beconsidered a distinguishable species .
Despite being known as a grass snake , the reptile actually like to spend much of their fourth dimension hunting in pond , rivers , and streams , where amphibians are recollect to make up the majority of their diet .
The novel specie differ from the common variety , as while both may reachup to a meter(3 fteet)in length , the common species is olive dark-green and has a jaundiced neckband , whereas the barricade eccentric is more grey in colour , lacks yellow around its cervix , and has black grading along its whole length .
Both species are find in the lowlands of southerly England , but it was only through testing the genetics of 1,600 specimen defy in museum collection that they were able-bodied to conclusively say the two varieties are different enough to be regard separate species .
The researchers then followed this up by looking at two region on the continent where both inherited lineages come into contact and found that there are significant barriers that prevent the snakes from interbreed .
The UK is not in particular well known for its diverse array of reptiles , with the country see stale winters and muffle summer not particularly well loved by cold - full-blooded creature . This means that the newly named barred grass serpent will now become only the 7th mintage of British reptilian , joining the common lounge lizard , sand lizard , slow worm ( actually a lizard ) , the common grass snake , smooth Snake River , and the adder , the UK ’s only venomous Snake River .
