Lost snake species found in Mexico

A species of snake that had been lost for almost 80 years has been re-discovered on a remote Mexican island.

According to a study published in the PLOS ONE scientific journal, the Clarion nightsnake was found again on one of the Revillagigedo Islands, more than 650km off Mexico's Pacific coast.

The species was first spotted by an American researcher, who returned with one sample in 1936.

But subsequent visits failed to find the nightsnake.

The single existing dead sample was assumed to be a labelling error, and it was struck from taxonomic registries

DNA analysis taken from newly found individuals shows the long, dark spotted snake is a species most closely related to snakes from the Sonora-Sinaloa coast more than 1600km away.