photo by: University of Kansas
Jeff Weinell, a KU graduate research assistant at the KU Biodiversity Institute, is lead author of a paper describing the Waray Dwarf Burrowing Snake as both a new genus and a new species in the peer-reviewed journal Copeia.
It just took a fresh pair of eyes for three preserved snake specimens to be recognized as something special and entirely new.
In 2017, graduate research assistant Jeff Weinell realized that three snake specimens in the University of Kansas Biodiversity Institute and Natural History Museum had been misidentified.
He had been studying a genus of snakes called Pseudorabdion and sequencing their DNA in order to understand their evolutionary relationships. When he got the results back, however, he realized that one specimen that had been identified as Pseudorabdion did not actually fit into the genus.
1 Jan 2021 Share:
Kansas researchers argue that expanded biodiversity infrastructure will be an essential front line of defense in pandemic preparedness in the wake of COVID-19 as preserved specimens capture the community of microorganisms that use the organism as a host. But, with the number of specimens being deposited in the biodiversity collections stored and curated by museums declining, this key resource requires an open-data framework to capture all sources of critical biodiversity sampling results.
Image: Wolverine (Gulo gulo) skulls collected over a researcher s career, now being prepared for archival at the Museum of Southwestern Biology.
Credit: Jocelyn P. Colella
When you imagine a visit to a natural history museum, the first thing that springs to mind could be dinosaur bones or taxidermized animals. Behind the visitor displays, however, advanced research on specimens collected from around the world is taking place. What s more, this work forms an essential f
New Species of Snake Discovered in Museum After Being Ignored by Researchers albawaba.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from albawaba.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
Specimens at the University of Kansas have been misidentified for years
Researchers only now realized its a distinct miniature species and genus
One of the smallest snakes of its kind, it has among the fewest vertebrae of any species
The Waray dwarf lives mostly underground, surfacing only after heavy rains
Not every new animal is discovered in the jungle or rainforest: A new species of snake was discovered in a museum after being ignored by researchers for years.
Levitonius mirus, also known as the Waray dwarf burrowing snake, is native to the Philippines.
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But specimens of the snake sent to the University of were misidentified until a research assistant conducted analysis of their scales and skeletal structure.
Levitonius mirus, or the Waray dwarf burrowing snake, is from the Philippines
Specimens at the University of Kansas have been misidentified for years
Researchers only now realized its a distinct miniature species and genus
One of the smallest snakes of its kind, it has among the fewest vertebrae of any species
The Waray dwarf lives mostly underground, surfacing only after heavy rains