Researchers from the Camai Foundation and Liberty University have discovered a new coffee snake species that is endemic to the cloud forests of northwestern Ecuador.Biologist Alejandro Arteaga first discovered the snake in Ecuador's Pichincha province while searching for an animal to include in a book about Ecuadorian reptiles.
Scientists have discovered a new species unique to Ecuador's cloud forests - the Tudors coffee snake. The species was discovered by biologist Alejandro Arteaga and inhabits coffee plantations at high altitudes. The discovery highlights the need to protect cloud forests and surrounding habitats, and species naming can help in this effort. Photo credit: Alejandro Artega
"This is the 30th species I've discovered, and the goal is 100," he said. Like other coffee snakes, the Tudors coffee snake often inhabits coffee plantations, especially in areas where its cloud forest habitat has been destroyed. It is endemic to the Pacific slopes of the Andes in northwestern Ecuador, living at altitudes between 1,000 and 1,500 meters above sea level.
Although it lives on plantations and does not face a significant threat of immediate extinction, some of its populations may be declining due to deforestation from logging and large-scale mining.
The researchers hope that its findings will highlight the importance of protecting cloud forest ecosystems and focus research on human-modified habitats surrounding cloud forests, such as coffee plantations and ranches.
"The new snake species is named in honor of Guy Tudor, a versatile naturalist and scientific illustrator with a deep affection for birds and all animals, in recognition of the impact he had on South American bird conservation through his artistic creations," the researchers wrote in a recent paper published in Evolutionary Systematics. "We are trying to raise conservation funds by naming the new species. This name helps us protect the Buenaventura Reserve."
Compiled source: ScitechDaily