The snake species Berezowski’s reed snake (Calamaria berezowskii), described as a new species in 1896, puzzled scientists for a long time, as it was unclear whether it even existed. Due to a lack of sightings, it was assumed that the missing Berezowski’s reed snake was not a distinct taxon but a synonym for the collared reed snake (C. pavimentata) found in Southeast Asia. However, scientists have now managed to rediscover this species in southern China.
Between 2017 and 2022, researchers conducted several expeditions to the mountains of Sichuan Province to study the local wildlife. This region is known as a biodiversity hotspot. During their visits, they discovered three snakes with distinctive yellow markings that matched the original scientific description of Berezowski’s reed snake from 1896. The approximately 30-centimeter-long animals had a prominent yellow “collar” around their necks, blunt tails, and elongated bodies, as reported in the recently published study in the journal Zoosystematics and Evolution.
Morphological comparisons and mitochondrial DNA analyses have now confirmed that Calamaria berezowskii is a valid species. Berezowski’s reed snake was identified based on a combination of various characteristics, including its scale pattern, eyes, coloration, and other subtle physical traits. Phylogenetically, the species is closely related to the collared reed snake but shows significant genetic differences. The DNA analysis revealed that Berezowski’s reed snake has at least 17 percent genetic differences from other related reed snakes.
Dwarf burrowing snakes: An underestimated genus
The genus Calamaria, belonging to the family Colubridae, encompasses one of the largest groups of Asian snakes, distributed from northeast India to the Maluku Islands in eastern Indonesia. Recent research in China has shown that the species diversity of this group has been underestimated. In the last five years alone, five new species of the genus have been described. The formal redescription of C. berezowskii now brings the total number of Calamaria species in China to seven.
The rediscovery of Berezowski’s reed snake is of great significance, as it contributes to clarifying the species diversity within the genus Calamaria and highlights the need to reassess widely distributed species in China. These snakes live in montane forests at elevations between approximately 1,700 and 1,800 meters and have been found in several counties in Sichuan Province, about 2,100 kilometers southwest of Beijing. Due to their subterranean lifestyle and burrowing behavior, these snakes are rarely encountered in the wild.
The rediscovered species is named after Michael Berezowski, a Russian traveler and zoologist who captured the first specimen in the 1890s.
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