bungarus suzhenae sp. nov.

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This species was most recently found in early August 2015 by a group of scientists in Yingjiang County, Yunnan Province, China when one of the scientists was beaten by one snake with silver rings on its body. These scientists then published a paper in Zookeys to announce the finding. the new species was named after Su-Zhen Bai, a famous powerful goddess of Chinese myth The legend of the White Snake (白蛇传), in honor of her courage to true love and kindness to people. The common name is suggested as “Suzhen’s krait” in English and “素贞环蛇 (sù zhēn huán shé)” in Chinese. Bungarus suzhenae was found in rice fields, streams in monsoon forest at an elevation from 800 m to 1,560 m. This species is distributed in Yingjiang Country, Yunnan Province, China, and Kachin State, Myanmar. In captivity, they prey on eels like Monopterus albus and small snakes such Xenochrophis flavipunctatus, Pareas spp., but refuse mice and frogs.

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