New species of venomous snake discovered in endangered Mexican cloud forests

The new snake was named the emerald horned pitviper (Ophryacus smaragdinus) for its bright green color and the two horn-shaped scales above its eyes. So much of the snake’s mountainous habitat has been destroyed due to logging and agricultural activities in the region that the newly discovered species is described as “highly vulnerable” by the scientists who found it. Known to scientists from only four specimens collected on the same mountain, the broad-horned pitviper (Ophryacus sphenophrys) was first discovered more than 50 years ago but dismissed as being a new find.Scientists say they’ve discovered a new species of horned pitviper in the critically endangered cloud forests of the Sierra Madre Oriental in Veracruz, Mexico, and determined that another pitviper is indeed a unique species. So much of the snake’s mountainous habitat has been destroyed due to logging and agricultural activities in the region that the newly discovered species is described as “highly vulnerable” by the scientists with Mexican non-profit organization Biodiversa and research group HERP.MX who found it.read more -http://news.mongabay.com/2016/01/new-species-of-pitvipers-discovered-in-endangered-mexican-cloud-forests/