This particular snake will be quite useful in the future - was found in a geographic zone of admixture where the two understood species of Cottonmouth intersect. Having both tissue and the body to study morphology through this zone allows us to study hybrid zone dynamics in both DNA and phenotype.

This snake was relatively unscathed so despite being dead on the road (DOR), it can be used for research in a huge variety of ways. This group took tissue and preserved this snake so it will live on forever as a part of a permanent public museum collection as a snapshot in time of this population.

An interesting find from our first group trip in 2022 - this Cottonmouth was run over and subsequently, ants started to bury it.

If this interests you and you want to learn more, join us on a trip or need a snake identified, join our discord community here: discord.gg/QpBQthS3TZ

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SEB (SnakeEvolution.org) is dedicated to advancing the public understanding of snake natural history through education and to facilitate ongoing research by increasing the volume of materials deposited in public natural history collections.