A new species of parrot snake lay undetected for nearly nine years in a scientific collection in Brazil. It closely resembled related species with bright green and yellow tones. But one detail set it apart: a bold black stripe running across its snout, like a mustache.
When scientists took a closer look, they suspected it might be standing out a little too much. “We initially thought this was a known species,” said biologist Diego Santana, a co-author of a recent study on the snake and Ph.D. student at the Federal University of Mato Grosso do Sul. “But when we examined its DNA and morphology, we realized it was something new.”
Now named Leptophis mystacinus, from the Greek mystax, meaning “mustache,” the snake was recognized as a unique species in January 2025. Growing up to 86 centimeters (34 inches) long, it is nonvenomous and arboreal, hunting small lizards and birds among tree branches.
Researchers suspect the species may be endemic to Brazil’s Cerrado, a shrinking tropical savanna that, despite its destruction, remains one of the most biodiverse biomes on Earth.
Unlike Brazil’s Amazon Rainforest, the Cerrado lacks strong legal protections, and more than half of its native vegetation has already been lost to soy plantations and cattle ranching. “The snake depends on specific forest formations that are already rare, and with the biome being rapidly destroyed, it is likely under some level of threat,” Santana said, adding that there are no population estimates for the parrot snake yet.
As predators of small vertebrates, snakes help maintain ecological balance. Without them, pest populations can surge, negatively impacting agriculture and the native ecosystem. “Their role in controlling these populations is crucial, absolutely crucial,” Santana added. “And predators like them are usually the first to be impacted when ecosystems are destroyed.”
Mercedes Bustamante, a biologist who specializes on the Cerrado at the University of Brasília, emphasized that the Cerrado biome borders the Amazon Rainforest, the Pantanal wetlands and the Atlantic Forest. These transition zones are habitat for an abundance of unique biodiversity and endemic species.
“We need to survey [the Cerrado’s] underexplored areas and slow deforestation, or we may lose species before we even know they exist,” Bustamante said in an email to Mongabay.
Scientists continue to document new species in the Cerrado savanna every year. In 2024, researchers identified a new tree with white flowers that grows up to 11 meters (36 feet) tall. Two new species of sempre-vivas, “everlasting flowers” emblematic of the biome, were also found and have already been classified as endangered.
“Defining a new species is fundamental to assembling the puzzle of biodiversity,” Santana said. “Every new species we describe helps us better understand the evolution of the biome and the ecology of its communities.”
Banner image: Scientists describe a new parrot snake species from the Brazilian Cerrado. Image courtesy of Diego Santana.
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