Striped foot-long creature on dirt road in Bolivia is first-of-its-kind sighting
Armed with headlamps and flashlights, a group of researchers set out into the darkness in Bolivia on the hunt for the native wildlife.
They were on a mission to catalog the reptiles and amphibians that call the central South American country home from the dense rainforests to the high plateaus and snow-capped mountains.
The researchers “traversed the area on foot” and collected animals by “hooks, tongs or by hand,” according to a study published Sept. 11 in the peer-reviewed journal Check List.
As they reached a dirt road in the community of Ucia, researchers spotted a striped creature stretching more than a foot long, according to the study.
It was identified as Erythrolamprus taeniogaster, or the coppery marsh-snake. It’s the first time this snake was found in the northern department.
The snake measures between about 16 and 21 inches long, according to the study.
“All adult specimens were of almost uniform dark-brown color and flank region with diffuse yellowish or orange bars, wider towards the (underside) than (the back),” researchers said.
Coppery marsh-snakes are considered “extremely rare,” according to Reptiles of Ecuador, and are active during the day in areas with some water, whether constant or seasonally.
The snakes are “active hunters” that go after frogs, fish and lizards and rely on their coloring to blend in with the environment when threatened, according to Reptiles of Ecuador.
The snakes have previously been recorded in Colombia, Ecuador and Peru, as well as other parts of Bolivia, according to the study. Their total range, however, is still to be discovered.
The updated range includes the “Amazonian forests of Buena Vista, Ixiamas, Ivón, Riberalta, Rurrenabaque and Tumi Chucua (Beni department) to the floodplains of Rancho San Marcos and Trinidad in the department of Beni to the northern Amazonian region of Pando,” according to the study.
The Pando department is along the northern border of Bolivia, south of Brazil.
The research team includes Cord B. Eversole, Luis R. Rivas, Randy L. Powell, Vincent A. Vos and Ruben D. Layme.
This story was originally published September 12, 2025 at 3:19 PM with the headline "Striped foot-long creature on dirt road in Bolivia is first-of-its-kind sighting."
