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DHAHRAN: Scientists working in northwest Saudi Arabia's ancient oasis of AlUla were delighted earlier this year to discover a new species of snake. With its striking red hue and elegant black collar, the reptile is perfectly adapted to camouflage against the sand and rock of the Hejaz.

Laszlo Patko, who for the past two years has worked as the head of applied research at the Royal Commission for AlUla, inventorying the biodiversity of the region, was part of the team that discovered the charismatic new and non-toxic species.

“The snake species, Rhynchocalamus hejazicus, is not only new to the region or the country – it is new to science,” the Hungarian academic told Arab News.

Institutions involved in the discovery include RCU, University of Ha'il, King Abdullah University of Science and Technology and Prince Mohammed bin Salman Royal Reserve Development Authority.

These Saudi institutions worked alongside experts from Portugal's Universidade do Porto, Egypt's Suez University, Yemen's University of Aden and Malaysia's Natural History Collective Ventures.

Together with his Saudi, Czech and Portuguese colleagues, Patko compiled the results in a paper. Within just a few months, it was published in the prestigious international peer-reviewed life science journal Zoosystematics and evolution.

“It went very, very quickly because it was a thorough, high-quality paper with significant scientific results,” says Patko. “It was quickly accepted and published.

“For me, it was the real happiness to see that it is not only an important discovery for us, but for the whole international scientific community.”

The published paper describes the new species as “a small, secretive snake, with distinctive coloration and a melanistic form. The new species occurs in the northwestern Hejaz region of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and fills a large part of the existing distribution gap of the genus in the Arabian the peninsula.”

Stephen Browne, vice-president of wildlife and natural heritage at the RCU, said the unearthing of this new species demonstrated the critical importance of the Kingdom's conservation efforts.

“This discovery is not just about cataloging a new species; it reflects the ongoing commitment to protect the lush, diverse ecosystems of AlUla,” Browne said in a statement. “It is a symbol of our commitment to preserving this unique oasis.

An RCU spokesperson agreed that there is clearly still much to be learned about the adaptability of desert animals.

“This find is critical to understanding the ecological dynamics of the region and the adaptive strategies of its desert wildlife, enhancing AlUla's reputation as a haven for both historical and natural treasures,” the spokesperson said in a statement.

The project that led to the snake's discovery began with a region-wide wildlife inventory, starting in November 2022, centered around documenting the area's biodiversity.

“We've never had this kind of rigorous, scientific knowledge gathering before,” Patko said. “Within the framework of this project, we 'accidentally' found this new species.

“It was an accident in the sense that we thoroughly investigated all our nature reserves and described all the species we could find. We knew that some species were in the reserve but did not know their exact numbers or locations.”

Scientists had a hunch that the region could be home to new species. Between 2017 and 2022, geckos and snakes had been observed in the area, but they had never been collected and thoroughly described. The inventory offered the perfect opportunity to fill in these gaps.

In 2023, the team spent their time in the desert observing animals based on morphology, including the study of their external features, color, scale patterns, and DNA.

“Obviously, there are occasional ad hoc observations, but if you're out in the field, you're really working hard,” Patko said.

“You go up in the desert, you sleep in the desert. You work in the desert with 10-15 different experts. Then this hard work pays off. It's a really cool way to get proof of why it's important to be in the field.”

Using online databases, the team expected to find species such as Walterinnesia aegyptia, also known as the desert cobra or desert black snake – native to nearby Khaybar, where the reptile is well camouflaged against the volcanic landscape.

“Harrat Khaybar is mostly black and gray because of the basalt and the ancient volcanic activity,” Patko said. “The first individual we found was melanistic—a completely black snake.”

The newly discovered snake, however, is a vibrant red, developed to blend in with AlUla's distinctive red, orange and yellow color palette. “It was very clear that this is indeed a new species,” Patko said.

Like many desert dwellers, the snake is nocturnal. “During the day, because of the very hot weather, Rhynchocalamus hejazicus is probably hiding under rocks,” Patko said. “At night they come out to hunt for invertebrates, small insects.”

And although it has small fangs to strike its prey with, the snake does not carry venom. It is also relatively small. “It's a very cool snake; a small snake about 20-30 centimeters long, easy to handle,” said Patko.

According to Patko, there are fewer than 20 snake species known in AlUla, perhaps closer to 18. Much remains to be learned about this latest addition to the reptilian community.

“We actually don't know much about their ecology because we only recently described the species. So we can only guess,” says Patko.

“All the snakes we found were solitary. Some snakes can congregate in one place during the winter, but not these.”

One thing that Patko believes is clear, however, is the value of AlUla as a thriving natural habitat, which makes conservation efforts in the region all the more important in the interests of science and biodiversity.

“What is quite exceptional in this story is how the AlUla deserts can hold these hidden gems,” he said.