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Recently, a team of herpetologists identified a rainbow coloured snake identified in Munnar.
Source: The Hindu
About rainbow coloured snake
- Belonging to the genus Melanophidium, the non-venomous snakes, also known as shield tail snakes, are endemic to the Western Ghats.
- The snake is largely nocturnal, and appears to be black in colour. But when light falls on it, it displays the colours of the rainbow.
- It appears to be bright blue at once, soon splitting into violet and indigo and the rest of the colours in the VIBGYOR spectrum.
- The Melanophidium genus has four recognised species and this snake could be the fifth.
- A fossorial species (living primarily underground) these come out mainly during the rainy season. Apart from this recently-described species, four other species have been recognised in the Melanophidium genus. All of them are characterised by their smooth and glossy skin.
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