Jim McMahon
In 2019, biologist Zeeshan Mirza was in a forest in northeastern India when he spotted a bright-green snake with a dark-orange stripe. It turned out to be an undiscovered species! Mirza named it Trimeresurus salazar, after the book character Salazar Slytherin. In the Harry Potter series by J.K. Rowling, Slytherin is one of Hogwarts’ founders. He could talk to snakes!
The new snake is a type of pit viper. Pit vipers are venomous: Their bite injects a toxic substance that can be deadly.
Mirza hopes that naming the snake after Slytherin will help people feel connected to it. Many habitats where pit vipers live need to be protected, he says.