China News Service, Chengdu, September 6 (Liu Zhongjun and Diao Haihan) On the 6th, it was learned from the Propaganda Department of Shiqu County Committee of Ganzi Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, Sichuan Province that a photographer had photographed the "red-spotted alpine worm" in Ge Kong Village, Zhengke Township, Sichuan Province. Snake trails, this is the first time this new species of viper was discovered and photographed in Shiqu in December 2017 after the discovery of this new species of viper in the Sanjiangyuan area of Qinghai.
It is understood that in 2016, when the Institute of Paleospine of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and Shenyang Normal University carried out an amphibian and reptile diversity survey in the Sanjiangyuan area of Qinghai, a small, brightly colored viper was found in the Tongtian River Basin at the source of the Yangtze River. Multiple studies such as comparison, three-dimensional reconstruction of skull CT, and molecular phylogeny have finally confirmed that this viper is an undescribed new species.
Shi Jingsheng of the Institute of Ancient Spine of the Chinese Academy of Sciences said in an interview with the media at the time that this viper had two rows of large bright red patches on the back of its body, and it lived on a plateau over 4000 meters above sea level. It was the highest altitude record for the distribution of venomous snakes in China. It was named "Red Spot Alpine Viper".
In recent years, Shiqu County has established itself as an ecological demonstration area in northwestern Sichuan, focusing on the management of landscapes, forests, fields, lakes, and sand systems, consolidating and improving the quality of the ecological environment, protecting rare wild animals and plants, and broadly consolidating the ecological protection consensus of "harmonious symbiosis between man and nature". The environment in which people depend for survival and development is improving day by day.
There are 9 species of national first-class protected animals such as white-lipped deer, snow leopard, Tibetan antelope, and black-necked cranes, and 34 species of second-class protected animals.
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