Full Text:
An international team of scientists has solved a case of mistaken identity and discovered a new species of venomous snake. The newly discovered Talamancan palm-pitviper is a striking green-and-black snake living in some of the most remote regions of Costa Rica. The coloring is a characteristic it shares with its close relative the black-speckled palm-pitviper.
In fact, these two species look so similar that the Talamancan palm-pitviper went unrecognized for more than 100 years. It is a case of cryptic speciation, where two species look almost identical, but are genetically different.Image credit: University of Central Florida
