Guwahati: A forest in Meghalaya’s Garo Hills has revealed an unexpected find—a new species of snake that spent years hiding in plain sight, consistently mistaken for a species already on the books.
Researchers have described the species, Calamaria garoensis, a small, burrowing reed snake, following detailed field surveys in West Garo Hills. The study, published in the peer-reviewed journal Taprobanica, involved scientists from institutions including Help Earth, Cotton University, Assam Don Bosco University, Mizoram University, the Zoological Survey of India, and Indonesia’s BRIN.
The discovery traces back to Oragitok in Rongram Block, a forested landscape that researchers say still holds largely undocumented biodiversity. The snake had escaped notice for years—partly due to its fossorial, underground lifestyle, and partly because it closely resembles other reed snakes that were broadly grouped under a single species name.
That assumption has now been overturned.
Using an integrative approach combining detailed morphology with mitochondrial DNA analysis, the researchers found that the Meghalaya population forms a distinct evolutionary lineage, closely related to Calamaria mizoramensis but clearly separate. Genetic analysis showed a divergence of around 6.3 per cent, reinforcing its status as a new species.
The study’s phylogenetic analysis places the new species within a northeastern Indian lineage, suggesting that the region may harbour more such narrowly distributed, previously overlooked species.
What sets Calamaria garoensis apart is a distinct suite of features: a short, non-tapering tail with an obtuse tip, a broad black stripe along the underside of the tail, and smooth dorsal scales arranged in 13 rows. Its slender, dark brown body, with faint longitudinal striping and a subtle nuchal ring, allows it to blend almost perfectly into leaf litter—one reason it remained undetected for so long.
The discovery also resolves a long-standing taxonomic confusion in Northeast India. For decades, similar snakes from the region were loosely identified as Calamaria pavimentata. However, the new study shows that this name has been applied too broadly, masking multiple distinct lineages across Asia.
In fact, the researchers note that the Meghalaya specimens differ significantly from the original description of C. pavimentata, particularly in ventral scale counts and tail structure, ruling out their classification under that species.
For scientists, the implications go beyond taxonomy.
“The Garo Hills are a treasure trove of biodiversity that is still largely unexplored,” said Chesime M. Sangma of Assam Don Bosco University. “This finding shows that many species are still hidden in these forests, and we must invest more in research and conservation here.”
Manmath Bharali of Cotton University added that fossorial snakes are often overlooked despite their ecological importance, and that documenting them is a crucial first step towards conservation.
Currently, Calamaria garoensis is known only from the Garo Hills, suggesting a restricted distribution and raising questions about its conservation status. The study also points to a broader pattern—Northeast India, despite being part of a global biodiversity hotspot, remains insufficiently explored, especially for lesser-known groups such as reptiles and amphibians.
As more such discoveries emerge, scientists say the message is becoming clearer: beneath the forest floor and within its dense landscapes, Northeast India still holds a wealth of species waiting to be named.
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