Oligodon churahensis
Oligodon churahensis, the Churah Valley kukri snake, is a species of snake in the family Colubridae. It was discovered when a photo of it was posted in Instagram and noticed by two biologists, leading to them contacting the poster and collecting specimens of the species. It is known only from the state of Himachal Pradesh in India. The common and specific name both refer to the Churah Valley, where it was discovered.
Taxonomy
The Churah Valley kukri snake was first photographed by Virender Bhardwaj, an Indian graduate student. During the COVID-19 pandemic, Bhardwaj began exploring his hometown, Chamba, Himachal Pradesh, and posting photos of what he found on Instagram. When he posted a photo of a kukri snake in June 2020, the biologists Zeeshan Mirza and Harshil Patel saw it and thought that it might be of an undescribed species. They contacted Bhardwaj, and a female holotype and a male paratype of the species were subsequently collected from near the village of Thanei Kothi in the Churah Valley on June 22 and June 25, respectively. The researchers concluded that the specimens represented a distinct species on the basis of DNA analysis and morphology, and described it as Oligodon churahensis. The specific name is a metonym after the Churah Valley, where the types of the species were collected.The Churah Valley kukri snake is one of over 80 species in the kukri snake genus Oligodon, and is most closely related to the banded kukri snake.