A recent study in reptiles revealed new information about the diversity of snakes in Papua New Guinea, an area as long as it has had problems in classifying species and lack of samples.
In April 2025, researcher Farid Kraos from the University of Michigan published a pioneering study in the “Zotaksa” magazine that revealed four new types of tree snakes of the sex of Dendrelaphis, each of which exists exclusively on a different island in Louisad and Woodlaric archipelago within the Millen Bay province in Papua New Guinea.
These discovered species highlight the rich biological diversity, but it is not well understood in Papua New Guinea, which includes at least 147 known snakes within 424 documented reptile species, according to the reptile database.
In his research, Kraos used an accurate examination of the anatomy of the male genitals (hemibins) and the color pattern to correct decades -long classification errors.
The new four types are:
Dendrelaphis Anthracina from Sodist island (also known as Vannini or Tajola), a black snake with a white chin, is observed that he hunts birds of prey like the large falcon with a wings that exceeds meters.
Dendrelaphis Melanarkys from Russell Island, features orange eyes and a network -like cortical style.
Dendrelaphis ATRA from Maysima Island, it gets black with age until it becomes black.
Dendrelaphis Roseni from Woodlaric Island, which is the smallest of the species, was called a honor for the deceased snake and environmental world Clark Rosen.
These discoveries highlight the importance of the process of island specialization in generating biological diversity, as geographical insulation leads to the development of distinctive types. However, Kraos warned that these species, despite their recent name, are facing great threats due to the destruction of habitats caused by mining, deforestation and human expansion, for example, Woodlaric Island has witnessed several proposals for forest transforming projects on a large scale during the past twenty years.
Crace’s work is an important step in understanding the biological diversity in Papua New Guinea and a call to preserve unique environmental systems that include these rare species before they are exposed to unknown risks.
