Two new Rattlesnake species discovered in the USA and Mexico!Media release dated 2 July 2018
In a major scientific discovery, The Snakeman Raymond Hoser has discovered and named two new species of Sidewinder Rattlesnakes.
One of the new species is found in Death Valley, California and the other in Sonora, Mexico. They were found to be different from the other known species of Sidewinder (widely known as Crotalus cerastes Hallowell, 1854 and Crotalus latorepens Klauber, 1944) on the basis of genetic evidence showing a 2 million year divergence from their nearest cousins, morphological differences and a disjunct distribution.
Another taxon, Crotalus cercobombus Savage and Cliff, 1953, was shown to be conspecific with Crotalus latorepens.
Raymond Hoser has previously done a significant amount of research and publication on North American reptiles, including Rattlesnakes and has named genera and species previously, cementing his reputation as the world’s foremost expert on Rattlesnakes.
His most recent peer reviewed paper was published in Issue 37 of Australasian Journal of Herpetology, last month and there is a strong likelihood that the species from Death Valley, may be the last unnamed extant species of Rattlesnake to be found in the continental United States.
Hoser said “That a hitherto unrecognized species can be commonly caught and found near major population centers is not as unusual as people outside zoology may think”.
The other species of rattlesnake formally named by Hoser (Crotalus funki Hoser, 2016) was also from California, although part of a different species group (the so-called Pacific Rattlesnakes).
While Rattlesnakes are reviled and feared by many people, within the science of herpetology (the study of reptiles) they are regarded as an iconic group of snakes. Because of this status, Rattlesnakes have been intensely studied over the last 200 years and therefore the discovery and naming of any new species is a major newsworthy event.
The two new species Aechmophrys adelynhoserae AKA Crotalus adelynhoserae from Death Valley and Aechmophrys jackyhoserae AKA Crotalus jackyhoserae from Sonora, Mexico, both being named in honour of the Snakeman’s daughters in recognition for their lifetime’s work with wildlife science and conservation.
Hoser says that formal recognition and naming of species is the first and most important step in their ultimate conservation. Under the rules of the International Code of Zoological Nomenclature, the first name assigned to a new species is the name that must always be used. This is called the rule of priority and ensures stability of names in zoological nomenclature, to enable all scientists to be aware of what species they are talking about or publishing on. In recent years, Snakeman Raymond Hoser has locked horns with a group of rule-breaking pseudozoologists who have unlawfully sought to rename more than 40 species and genera previously discovered and named by Hoser, as well as numerous cases involving other zoologists.
This practice is known as "taxonomic vandalism". Hoser took the matter to the ICZN, after the rule-breakers falsely claimed in 2009 that a Hoser paper had not been published in accordance with the rules of the code, ostensibly giving them right to rename a group of Cobras previously named by Hoser, with the ICZN later publishing confirmation that the central claims against Hoser were false.
In 2013, Hoser discovered and named a new species of Alligator Snapping Turtle from Florida, namely Macrochelys maxhoseri Hoser 2013. A rule-breaker named Travis Thomas in 2014 unlawfully renamed the species, but his name is unavailable according to the rules of the International Code of Zoological Nomenclature as it is a junior synonym of the earlier Hoser name.
In May this year, in a world first Hoser took Michael Alexander, a member of the rule-breaking group to the Australian Federal Court, charged with “taxonomic vandalism” in breach of a court mediated undertaking he had made on 25 August 2017 not to engage in the practice or to encourage others to do so. The undertaking was signed at the end of another Federal Court case that had been mainly in relation to his unlawful use of the Hoser-owned registered trademark “Snake Man”, for the purposes of diverting Hoser’s business clients to the law-breaker’s unsafe business enterprise. Both do wildlife displays in Australia.
In 2017, Alexander and another infringer as a pair ultimately paid Hoser tens of thousands of dollars in damages, Hoser’s legal costs, paid for corrective advertising in the Australian media and undertook to never illegally infringe or attempt to steal Hoser’s intellectual property again, including by way of taxonomic vandalism, or encouraging others to do so. The 2018 Federal Court proceedings are still afoot as of July 2018, with Hoser again seeking damages and punitive damages. Hoser notes that dishonest acts of taxonomic vandalism and legal proceedings arising from this nefarious practice diverts himself and other scientists away from their important research and conservation objectives.
In terms of wildlife conservation, Hoser says there is little that excites people more than the discovery of a new species and Hoser says he is aware of over 1,000 unnamed reptile species still awaiting formal naming.
These are on all inhabited continents and in particular central parts of Africa, South-east Asia and northern South America, as well as significant concentrations in Northern Australia/New Guinea, Middle America and Madagascar. As Hoser himself said “There is no need for would-be scientists to engage in acts of taxonomic vandalism when there are still so many unnamed species out there!”
Further information:
Phone: Australia +61 (0) 412777211
Citation:
Hoser, R. T. 2018. A new species-level classification for the Aechmophrys cerastes (Hallowell, 1854) species group of Rattlesnakes (Squamata: Viperidae). Australasian Journal of Herpetology 37:14-17. Published 20 June 2018.
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