Why in News:

• Russian journal published the discovery of a reddish-brown pit viper in Arunachal Pradesh, the New Zealand-based journal Zootaxa has come with the discovery of a non-venomous snake in Mizoram.

Details:

• The discovery of another non-venomous snake species — the Crying Keelback, in
  Arunachal Pradesh’s Lepa-Rada district
• The new genus and species of the natricine which is predominantly aquatic that took a seven-member team of herpetologists 12 years to document, has been named Smithophis atemporalis.
• The discovery is locally called Ruahlawmrul or rain-loving snake.
• The maximum recorded size of the new species is 655 mm and is commonly seen in human dominated landscapes after rains.
• molecular analyses had been conducted to find that Ruahlawmrul and other species called bicoloured forest snake (Rhabdops bicolor), found primarily in Meghalaya, differed from the Olive forest snake (Rhabdops olivaceous) endemic to Western Ghats.
• The species from the Western Ghats continues to remain in the genus Rhabdops