Still Waters Posted March 15, 2012 #1 Share Posted March 15, 2012 A new species of venomous sea snake mysteriously covered head to tail in spiny scales has been discovered in treacherous seas off northern Australia, a new study says.Though some other sea snakes have spiky scales on their bellies, "no other [known] sea snake has this curious feature," study leader Kanishka Ukuwela, an ecologist at the University of Adelaide, said by email. Normally snakes have smooth scales, but each of the newly named Hydrophis donaldi's scales has a spiny projection, he said. Read more... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
msmike1 Posted March 15, 2012 #2 Share Posted March 15, 2012 Very interesting, but I don't see it as that odd. I would describe the scales as more highly keeled than spikes. This is not uncommon in some snakes. Some snakes do have smooth scales while others have slightly keeled scales, while others still have highly keeled scales such as this sea snake. I must admit I know less about sea snakes than I do any other type of serpent, but still find then increasingly interesting. Mike Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RockabyeBillie Posted March 15, 2012 #3 Share Posted March 15, 2012 It's really cool that we're discovering new creatures on our little mudball almost every day! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DKO Posted March 16, 2012 #4 Share Posted March 16, 2012 Awesome. I saw a sea snake near Karratha once, wicked to see sliding through the water. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ColoradoParanormal Posted March 16, 2012 #5 Share Posted March 16, 2012 Very cool! And agreed, it's awesome to see all the new discoveries week by week. The only experience I've ever had with water snakes is the Copper Heads while I was undertaking the S.F. Airborne training at Ft. Benning in GA. They were every where in the swamps that we had to trudge through lol Made things more interesting I'll give ya that! Absolutely love reptiles though! Good find Still Waters! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
harleyblueswoman Posted March 16, 2012 #6 Share Posted March 16, 2012 it's skin looks like what I might imagine dragon skin to look like in a way.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CRIPTIC CHAMELEON Posted March 16, 2012 #7 Share Posted March 16, 2012 I just love the way that your never more then 3 meters away from something that can potentiality kill you in Australia, lol. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
UniqueWolf Posted March 27, 2012 #8 Share Posted March 27, 2012 Huh that would be cool (and scary) to see.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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