pietersen_darren's Identifications

Found this mystery Philothamnus sp. with Leslie Reynolds about 1.5m up in a dense vine tangle at the edge of the West Lunga river in a large patch of evergreen forest (“mushitu”). Snake estimated to be about 60cm long. Doesn't seem to match any known Philothamnus from the region and possibly a new species to science.

When photos were sent to Steve Spawls he replied: "the only species I know that exhibits that sort of colour is Philothamnus macrops; Usambara Green Snake. It appears to have 13 midbody scale rows, which would also fit. However, it is a long way west of the nearest record for that species, and also appears to have 2+2 temporal scales, macrops virtually always has 1+1. I suspect it may be something new, although there is a lot we don't know about that area!"