Published on: 2026-05-10
Source: People’s Republic of China in Russian –
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Nanning, May 10 /Xinhua/ — Chinese researchers have discovered a new species of snake — the Guangxi reed snake, which scares off predators by mimicking a second head using its tail.
This discovery, described in detail last month in the journal Zoosystematics and Evolution, was the result of a broader study of biodiversity in the Huapin National Nature Reserve in the Guansi-Chuansky Autonomous Region of southern China. The team from the Guansi Museum of Natural History was one of several groups participating in the study.
The snake, a little over 20 centimeters long, has a slender brown body. Researchers noted that along its back there are seven dark interrupted stripes, and the dark pigment along the edges of the scales creates a distinctive reticulated pattern.
This species leads a predominantly nocturnal and semi-underground lifestyle, spending most of its time hidden in foliage, bending soil, and rock crevices. Field groups found it in broadleaf forests at an altitude of approximately 760 meters, where it moves along the forest floor, feeding on a specialized diet of earthworms and soft-bodied insect larvae.
Despite its dramatic defensive posture, researchers described this creature as meek, non-venomous, and non-aggressive. The most characteristic behavior of this snake is that when frightened, it coils its body into a figure-eight or raises its blunt, rounded tail, mimicking a head—a feature that earned it the nickname “two-headed snake.”
This discovery is the second significant one in the National Nature Reserve of Huaping this year after the discovery at the beginning of 2026 of the Huaping leaf-litter frog, also known as Leptobrachella cathaya.
Researchers stated that these recent discoveries underscore the crucial role of the reserve as a place of preservation of biological diversity and emphasize the growing recognition of the ancient forests of the northern part of Guangxi as a vital global “gene bank” for rare species.
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