Slithering among the undergrowth in the foothills of the Panamanian forest, there is a snake the color of burning coals, and eyes of flaming orange. Uniquely, the snake is named Leonardi DiCaprio.
Sibon irmelindicaprioae, that is the snake's scientific name, is one of five new species discovered in the forests of Central and South America.
In a new study, researchers describe the new species and explain how gold and copper mining operations in the region may threaten other amazing snakes.
"This new snake species is just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to the discovery of new species in this region," said the study's lead author, Alejandro Arteaga, quoted from Science Alert, Friday (3/2/2023).
Alejandro, who is the president and director of research at the Khamai Foundation, a non-governmental organization that focuses on conservation, also expressed his concern regarding illegal mining activities.
"But if illegal mining continues at the present rate, there may not be an opportunity to make discoveries in the future," he said.
S. irmelindicaprioae has another name for the snail-eating snake, and is also called Leonardo DiCaprio's snake. Not many know that the Hollywood actor is a conservationist. It was he who requested that the orange-eyed snake use elements of his mother's name, Irmelin Indenbirken.
DiCaprio's eponymous snake is about 38 cm long. It spends the night on palm fronds 3 meters above the ground and looks for snails as food.
This snake is classified as tame. Its way of defending itself is not by biting but by coiling its head protectively and emitting a foul odor.
There are four other new species described in this study, namely the canopy snail-eating snake (Sibon canopy), the Marley snail-eating snake (Sibon marleyae), the Vieira snail-eating snake (Sibon vieirai), and the Welborn snail-eating snake (Dipsas welborni).