By Selangor Journal Team
SHAH ALAM, Oct 3 — The rare Selangor mud snake was recently rediscovered in Singapore after it was last seen 106 years ago in 1914, The Stratis Times reported on Wednesday.
The brown reptile with white patches was spotted swimming in a shallow concrete drain near the Nee Soon swamp forest on September 19.
The recent discovery by naturalists Dennis Chan, 26, and Neo Xiao Yun, 24, had changed the snake’s status in Singapore from “indeterminate” to “extant” as its existence has now been definitively recorded.
Herpetological Society of Singapore co-founder Law Ing Sind had said the scientifically significant discovery reaffirms the presence of the species in Singapore and had raised the possibility of the occurrence in Peninsular Malaysia.
“Regionally, this species is also quite rare, with colour photographs having been published in a research paper only in 2018, ” Law was quoted.
The species was said to be last found in a rubber plantation at Bukit Sembawang in 1914 and was then deposited in a museum in Dublin, based on the scientific publication published in the Singapore Biodiversity Records, hosted by the Lee Kong Chian Natural History Museum.
It was reported that information on the behaviour and habitat of the snake is scarce.
