On Saturday morning, the Texas Identification and Taxonomy Association tweeted that several members were en route to Bend, Texas after local game wardens were unable to identify an “unusual organism ” – a bluebonnet rattlesnake.
On Monday morning, TITA confirmed that the animal was “a previously unknown species of snake” and released several images and a description of the animal: Crotalus Lupinus (Texas Bonnet Rattlesnake). Dr. William Nye, founder of TITA and Professor of Biological Sciences at The University of Texas, released this statement after visiting Bend, Texas to inspect the snake over the weekend: “This weekend, we had the opportunity to observe a previously unknown specimen in Bend, Texas.”
The Governing Committee at TITA has designated the snake’s scientific name as ‘Crotalus Lupinus,’ and the discoverer, Robert McCrae, has assigned the common name of ‘Texas Bluebonnet Rattlesnake.’ “While a lot of research is still needed, this find reestablishes everything we teach about natural selection and adaptation.”
The snake has obvious similarities to the Lupinis Texensis, or Bluebonnet. It is safe to say, with certainty, that this bluebonnet rattlesnake has reached an evolutionary point where it is interacting with our Texas State Flower. This is the first Texas Bluebonnet Rattlesnake that we have documented but maybe that’s the whole point… this species has evolved so they will NOT be seen. “Evolution is Nature’s smartest tool, and I remain hopeful that future data reveals a thriving new species.”
We are INFAMOUS!
Gotcha! We actually posted this story on our Facebook page as an April 1st warning a couple of years ago to warn folks to be careful while photographing your pets and children in the Bluebonnets. Many folks get into the Bluebonnet fields, trampling the flowers, but are unaware that critters and snakes also like Bluebonnets, so this was an attempt to slightly curtail that concern and problem.
This April 1st article went viral quickly, reaching millions of people in the first day. It was very informative and entertaining, especially since it was April Fool’s Day. You can still search “Bluebonnet Rattlesnake or Rattler” and find this article was extremely popular and accepted as true. We are now infamous because of this and we actually made Snopes (an online debunker) in only one day, which may still hold the record for Snopes Spoofs. We’re kinda proud of that.
