In a surpising update, scientists named a newly discovered snake species from New Guinea Lielaphis slashi (commonly known as Slash’s groundsnake) in honor of the legendary Guns N’ Roses guitarist.
The researchers chose to name the snake after Slash because of his lifelong, well-documented passion for reptiles and natural history.
Slash even called it an “extremely honored and humbled” moment, noting he has been a “herpetophile” since childhood.
Lielaphis Slashi is a non-venomous, reddish-brown groundsnake that measures roughly 71 centimeters about 28 inches long.
It is nocturnal and features large teeth in the back of its mouth to help catch slippery lizards and reptile eggs.
While specimens were first encountered years ago, advanced genetic testing and physical scale counts recently confirmed it was an entirely distinct, previously unrecognized species.
