TIMES OF OMAN (Muscat, Oman) 11 December 04 New species of saw-scaled viper found in Rustaq hills (Adarsh Madhavan)
Muscat: The fierce-looking saw-scaled viper suddenly ‘backlashed’ and missed Seyad Farook’s face by an inch.
If the fangs had struck and if the venom was released, even Oman’s best-known snake man would have been in serious trouble. (Farook had put the saw-scaled viper for a photo shoot and had his face close to the snake when it suddenly lashed out. Since he is an experienced hand at this, he escaped from being bitten!)
For, this is one saw-scaled viper, which while in the process of making history for Oman, should also be duly avoided because it is highly venomous.
This snake has been officially classified as Oman’s new species — the Echis Omanensis or simply put, Oman’s new saw-scaled viper. And while it has been declared as being poisonous, no one, even Farook, has any anti-venom for its bite.
The Echis Omanesis is Oman’s latest venomous snake, currently in possession of Farook, who had captured it in Rustaq in October this year.
A well-known scientist had recently published a paper in Systematics and Biodiversity, a publication of the Natural History Museum, London, detailing this new find. Originally, this snake was thought to be an Echis Coloratus, but it has now been classified as a new species under the name Echis Omanensis.
“With this find, the total number of Omani snakes will go up to 32 and it will be the 10th venomous snake of Oman,” Farook told the Times of Oman in an exclusive interview.
However, the Echis Omanensis can be found in Oman and also in the narrow strip across the UAE. Most of the range that this snake occupies is in Oman. Which is why it has been named as Omanesis, Farook noted.
Farook explains how he had found this new species. He had decided to go to Rustaq in search of the venomous snakes, which belongs to the clan of ‘carpet viper’ and/or saw-scaled viper. “I was particularly interested to find a live specimen of Echis Colaratus, which inhabits in the rocky areas and mountains of Northern Oman,” Farook recalls.
He convinced an Omani colleague, Mohsin Mohammed Taqi Mohsin Al Saleh, a BSc medical laboratory science graduate of Sultan Qaboos University (SQU) and currently working as a bio-medical scientist at the bio-chemistry department of SQU Hospital, of his new mission.
“I convinced Mohsin to accompany me on this adventurous trip and I promised to show him a new snake. On previous snake hunting trips, he has assisted me to search and capture live specimens of Echis Carinatus, which lives in the lower elevations. I knew that if he is with me, his enthusiasm and support for me would be an additional help in going after these dangerous reptiles.”
In Rustaq, they were further supported by Mohsin’s close friend and colleague, Yakoub Abdullah Said Al Abri, a BSc computer science graduate, and also from SQU.
Yakoub’s home is located close to a range of hills in Rustaq and he has encountered snakes in his leisure walks. And despite being an ophiophobic (someone who fears snakes), Farook managed to convince him to accompany him and Mohsin on the snake trail.
After a laborious search, they struck gold — the snake they were looking for.
“It was a comparatively large snake and looked very different from the Echis Carinatus we knew from earlier expeditions, Farook recalled. “I was very careful in manipulating my snake hook to control it and then picked it up by holding at the neck. It was a beauty. I knew it was the so-called Echis Coloratus. The snake was carefully transported to my Herpetarium.”
But little did Farook realise that there had been a few preserved specimens of Echis Coloratus already in some of the Natural History Museums or University Museums in the Middle East and The British Museum of Natural History (BMNH) in the UK. Some of the other sources are Jordan University of Science and Technology (JUST); Mutah University Museum, Mutah, Jordan (MUM); Jordan University Museum (JUM), Giza Zoological Gardens, Cairo and another nine or 10 such museums in the region.
The specimens coming from its entire range of distribution had been lodged in these museums for many years, some of them dating back to 1897, 1913, 1946, 1951, 1953. Most of the specimens were found approximately in the period 1971-1988.
The specimens from the UAE and Oman had been found in 1971 and 1973, and carefully preserved in the British Museum of Natural History, UK.
Many scientists may have seen all these specimens from time to time but more recently Dr Gergely Babocsay from Hungary was examining those preserved specimens more carefully and in elaborate detail. He had only a total of 353 museum specimens to work with. But he was able to collect sufficient data to analyse his findings. Some of the characters studied were scale size, scale patterns, scale counts, snake measurements eg: Rostrum to anus length and tail length had been measured to the nearest 1mm.
Fourteen male specimens and 12 female specimens from the UAE and Oman were found in the BMNH collection for his study. Babocsay has concluded from his findings that the specimens from Northern Oman across the border through the UAE reaching up to Musandam is completely different from the others.
The Echis in this region differs from the rest, but the differences were delicate and one needed to do an elaborate multivariate analysis to show this difference properly. His scientific paper was published in the ‘Systematics and Biodiversity’ of the Natural History Museum, London, UK.
“This snake from Northern Oman across the UAE and Musandam, which was classified as Echis Coloratus all these years has now been given the status as a new species and is called Echis Omanensis.
“The specimen in Jiddat Al Harasis (He had only one in his disposal) was indeed very different from E. Omanensis. The Wahiba Sands (Ramlat Al Wahaiba) separate the two species. East of the Wahiba you have omanensis and west of it coloratus. But he only based this on the material he had in the museums and on circumstantial evidences (zoogeography, geology, etc.) Prof Andrew Gardner (who was earlier associate with the department of biology at SQU and presently attached to the College of Science, Sheikh Zayed University, Abu Dhabi) and myself have written to him to say that the border of the two species may be more or less North and South than East and West of Wahiba Sands, which he mentions in his paper. He is happy with our communication.”
Further expeditions and studies on these two species may lead to a more elaborate conclusion. The Wahiba Sands seem to be a barrier for several taxa including these.
According to Dr Gergely, the Echis antivenin developed for Echis Coloratus may not be of much use and the taxonomic distinction of this species presented in his paper suggests a reconsideration of the use in the UAE and Northern Oman of the antivenin, which is avalailable for Echis coloratus. “It is obvious now that the study of venom composition of Echis Omanensis is a priority. It is important to note that now Rustaq is within the distribution area of this new snake Echis Omanensis. This also shows that any museum specimen has to be carefully preserved so that after many years new research scientists and biologists could study such preserved specimens,” Faoork said.
The Echis Omanensis males have longer tail with more subcaudals. Like in most modern snakes the tail gets thick behind the cloaca and gets narrow only afterwards. Females have a continuously narrowing tail. The data in his paper are helpful in telling sexes apart.
Echis Omanensis feeds on small toads, geckoes, small mice and small birds. As with other vipers they lead a solitary life and meeting the opposite sex only during the breeding season.
This snake seems to be endemic to Northern Oman and the Eastern United Arab Emirates from the Musandam Peninsula to the Eastern tip of Eastern Hajar (Al Hajar ash Sharqi) in northeastern Oman. The species ranges from sea level to 1000m.
“At the moment the only captive specimen of Echis Omanensis is in my collection now and it will give a boost to our venomous snake project under the leadership of Dr Euan Scrimgeour who is my principal investigator,” Farook said.
Echis Omanensis measures:
Total length: 570mm (snout to tip of tail)
Length of tail: 78mm
Length of head: 29mm
Width of head: 24 mm.
Weight: 71.51gm.
New species of saw-scaled viper found in Rustaq hills