New genus of pit viper discovered in India named after Salazar Slytherin
The house symbol of Slytherin is a snake and the colors are green and silver. Slytherin himself was a Parselmouth meaning he had the ability to converse with snakes.
By ZACHARY KEYSERA yellow pit viper snake drinks water droplets on a flower at the Dhupguri snake park(photo credit: REUTERS)
A novel green species of pit vipers discovered by researchers deep in the forests of northeast India has been given a fitting name, derived from one of the most brilliant witches and wizards of the fictional Harry Potter universe and one of the four famous founders of the Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and and Wizardry, Salazar Slytherin.The researchers named the species Trimeresurus salazar, which literally translates Salazar's pit viper, eponymous with the fictional Parselmouth founder of the Slytherin House of Hogwarts, known for his legendary affinity towards snakes and serpents alike.For the unfamiliar, Slytherin founded the Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry alongside four other famous wizards Godric Gryffindor, Rowena Ravenclaw and Helga Hufflepuff - who gave their namesakes to each of the four school houses (Gryffindor, Ravenclaw, Hufflepuff and Slytherin).The house symbol of Slytherin is a snake and the colors are green and silver. Slytherin himself was a Parselmouth meaning he had the ability to converse with snakes. It is also noted in the books that any witch or wizard who speaks Parseltongue is related to Slytherin - so assuming the newly found pit viper snakes speak snake it can be designated as an appropriate naming.Before leaving his position at the school due to disagreements with the other co-founders, Slytherin locked away a giant Basilisk in the "Chamber of Secrets" underneath the school that terrorized students for hundreds of years. Looking it directly in the eye meant certain death, catching a glimpse of the snake in a reflection would mean paralysis. In European lore, the Basilisk was a mythical reptile purported to be a serpent king that could inflict death with a single glance, measuring no "more than twelve fingers in length" - the Basilisk depicted by J.K. Rowling was massive, however."The specific epithet is a noun in apposition for J.K. Rowling’s fictional Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry’s co-founder, Salazar Slytherin. He was a Parselmouth that links him to serpents," the study authors stated in their recently published findings.Trimeresurus salazar was discovered near the Pakke Tiger Reserve while on a herpetological expedition to Himalayan biodervisity hotspots in Arunachal Pradesh located in the furthest regions of northeast India, resting along the border shared with China. The newly found pit viper is said to have a unique identifying characteristic, which is a orange-red stripe on the body of males which distinguishes from the other species of Trimeresurus. Like many in the Trimeresurus genus, the snakes are venomous."Comparison of the specimens from near Pakke Tiger Reserve with T. septentrionalis and T. albolabris housed in the collection of the Bombay Natural History Society, Natural History Museum and the data presented in the literature revealed that the specimens from near Pakke Tiger Reserve represent a new species," the study authors wrote. "Molecular data for the specimens corroborate our morphological findings and allow us to describe a new species of green pit vipers from northeastern India."Slytherin would be proud.
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