It is the fifth variety of reptile to have been discovered in Arunachal Pradesh in a little more than a year.
It was collected from the Pakke Tiger Reserve in Pakke-Kessang district.
Of the species recorded from India, seven had been found in the northeast before the Salazar’s pit viper.
Salazar’s pit viper belongs to the genus Trimeresurus Lacépède comprising charismatic venomous serpents with morphologically as well as ecologically diverse species.
Pit vipers are venomous snakes distinguished by their heat-sensing pit organs between the eye and the nostril.