March 26, 2017, Emily Riddles and Cassidy Hampton arrived in Bolivia for their expedition to find the new species of snakes, one particular snake that they wanted to find is Zebra Lancehead (Bothrops striata).
Their first stop is Madidi National Park. They will be joined a herpetologist from Spain named Rudolfo Tieros (25) for the expedition as they explored the Madidi Nation Park which located in the upper part of Amazon River basin in Bolivia.
"Let's trek into the jungle and see if we find the number of new snake species including the Zebra Lancehead." Rudolfo said. "I found a dead specimen last year in Bolivia, it was accidentally killed by a local palm cutter."
"That really sucks, hopefully we find one that's alive." Emily said.
They trekked through the deep Amazon Rainforest during mid-morninig, they found frogs, lizards and a few poisonous dart frogs. They stopped to take a break and drink some bottled water.
"I spotted something in the nearby log." Rudolfo said as he approaching the log and saw a new species of lancehead pit viper called Madidi Green Lancehead (Bothrops madidiensis). "Holy mackerel, Madidi Green Lancehead, it's endemic to Bolivia!"
"Quick, take a snapshot!" Cassidy said as she was excited, she never expected to find a new species of snake. "It's beautiful."
Rudolfo measured the snake and counting the dorsal scales, ventral scales and subcaudal scales.
"4 feet long. 31 dorsal scales, 198 ventral scales and 72 subcaudal scales." Rudolfo said. "This is a nocturnal species feeding on rats, mice, birds, lizards, frogs and bats."
Emily took several snapshots of it with her camera. "I don't see a single black or white stripe on it anywhere."
"This is not our target species but it's still a new addition, this will be our first snake of the day. I've never seen this lancehead that is vibrant green colored snake with darker green blotches all the way down to its tail." Rudolfo said. "And the venom is primarily hemotoxic."
"Amazing, hopefully we find the Zebra Lancehead soon." Cassidy said.
"This snake is a good sign, but it will take time before we found the Zebra Lancehead." Rudolfo said.
They continued their trek through the jungle, this time they were looking for the Zebra Lancehead. After a few hours of searching, they still found nothing.
"Wait, another pit viper coiling on the tree, it's the Amazon Yellow Pit Viper (Bothriechis tierosi)." Rudolfo said. "That's one of my few discovered new snakes one month ago."
"Beautiful, another new species we've found." Cassidy looked at the Amazon Yellow Pit Viper as it was sleeping on the tree branch.
"This snake is found in the mountains and forests of Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia and Brazil." Rudolfo said.
Rudolfo measured the snake's size by carefully handling the snake with his tongs, he also counted the dorsal scales, ventral scales and subcaudal scales.
"It's 4 feet 5 inches long, 28 dorsal scales, 189 ventral scales and 58 subcaudal scales. It's a nocturnal arboreal species, which is an ambush predator, feeding on birds, bats, frogs and lizards." Rudolfo said.
After they finished measuring the Amazon Yellow Pit Viper, they continued searching in the jungle. "I think I heard something at 12 o'clock." Emily said.
"What kind?" Cassidy asked as she was nervous, holding tightly onto her tongs in case if she had to help Rudolfo catch another new snake.
"I don't know, it's moving around though." Emily said. Rudolfo looked through a pair of binoculars at something moving in the nearby vegetation.
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Emily Riddles: American Snake Master
NezařaditelnéEmily Riddles is a 21-year-old wildlife photographer and herpetlogist from Phoenix, Arizona. She is a well-known snake expert who travel around the world to find, document and photographed all kinds of snakes, both venomous and non-venomous.
