Among millions of selfies, a scientific discovery: Instagram proves to be a useful tool for science too, thanks to a story from India. Virendar Bhardwaj, a student at Guru Nanak Dev University in Amritsar, in the north of the Asian nation, regularly uploads images of local flora and fauna taken around his home to his Instagram account. It is a passion for nature shared by many users of the social network owned by American company Meta. Some time ago, however, a photo of a snake found in his garden brought Bhardwaj into the history books. His casual upload led to the discovery of a new animal species.

The story from India

Bhardwaj published a photo of a snake that caught the attention of Zeeshan A. Mirza, a herpetologist (specialising in the study of reptiles and amphibians) at the National Centre for Biological Sciences in Bangalore. In the caption, the student had described the snake as a kukri, a species widespread in Asia and belonging to the family Colubridae.

While browsing Instagram with particular attention to his field of study, Mirza came across Bhardwaj's photo. Noticing that the photographed specimen displayed characteristics different from those of kukri snakes, Mirza contacted the student, who subsequently managed to find two more similar snakes so that the researchers could examine them.

Recently, the scientific team completed the identification process and confirmed that the snake belongs to a previously unidentified species. "The absence of pterygoid and palatine teeth suggests that the diet may consist largely of eggs," Mirza explains. "A discovery of this kind should not come as a surprise, since the western Himalayas have been poorly explored in terms of herpetofaunal diversity."

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In this week’s ‘Wildlife Weekly’, let's learn about a newly described reptilian! A new Himalayan snake species was recently described to science after herpetologist Zeeshan Mirza found an image of the specimen on Instagram, posted by a student!

♥ 3💬 1 6 dic 2021 · Apri su X →

Himalayan snakes discovered on Instagram

The scientific name chosen for the new species is Oligodon churahensis, in honour of the Churah valley in the Indian state of Pradesh, a mountainous region in the western Himalayas where it was discovered. A description of the specimens has been published in the journal Evolutionary systematics. The western Himalayas are relatively less explored than other Indian regions, and dedicated work is needed to reveal their biodiversity, according to Mirza. The area is home to unique reptile species that scientists have only begun to discover in the past two years.

"It is quite remarkable to see how an Instagram image led to the discovery of a snake that was unknown to the world," Mirza continues. "Exploring your own backyard can yield species that may not yet be documented. Lately, people want to travel to remote locations to find new or rare animals, but if you look in your own backyard you might end up finding something right there." In the acknowledgements section of the paper, the researchers wished to note that the discovery of the species would not have been possible without Instagram. Thanks to one of the most widely used social networks in the world, the Earth's fauna gains a new animal known to humankind.