New kind of pit viper discovered in South

Staff at the Thale Ban National Park in the southern province of Satun have discovered a new kind of pit viper, the smallest yet found in the subfamily of venomous snakes.

Saengsuree Songthong, chief of the national park, said he, his assistant Nakhen Kaweethanatham and research official Bunyarit Dechochai accidentally spotted the newly-discovered species of pit vipers while they were resting under a limestone shelter recently.

They took pictures and asked a researcher to identify the snakes. The research later found that the team made a new discovery.

Mr Saengsuree said that the newly-discovered species was scientifically named “Trimeresurus ciliaris” and called “limestone eyelash pit viper”. It looks similar to Trimeresurus venustus or “beautiful pit viper”.

The limestone eyelash pit viper is smaller than the beautiful pit viper, the park chief said. Its eyelashes and nose are bigger and patterns on its lateral scales are clearer.