An expedition in Ecuador has discovered five species of snail-eating snake. Four out of the five are thought to be threatened with extinction (three qualify as Vulnerable according to IUCN guidelines and the fourth is likely to be Endangered) so the naming rights for all five species were auctioned off and used the funds to purchase and protect an area of forest (an expansion of the Buenaventura Reserve) where the two rarest species are known to live.
The five species are as follows:
Dipsas bobridgelyi - An Endangered species, one of two protected in the expanded reserve and named after Robert S. Ridgley, the conservationist who helped establish Buenaventura
Dipsas georgejetti - Vulnerable
Dipsas bevridgelyi - Vulnerable
Dipsas oswaldobaezi - Vulnerable
Dipsas klebbai - The only species considered to not be threatened
More information is included on the link below:
Scientists find new snail-eating snakes, auction naming rights to save them
The five species are as follows:
Dipsas bobridgelyi - An Endangered species, one of two protected in the expanded reserve and named after Robert S. Ridgley, the conservationist who helped establish Buenaventura
Dipsas georgejetti - Vulnerable
Dipsas bevridgelyi - Vulnerable
Dipsas oswaldobaezi - Vulnerable
Dipsas klebbai - The only species considered to not be threatened
More information is included on the link below:
Scientists find new snail-eating snakes, auction naming rights to save them
