> ## Content Index
> Fetch the complete content index at: https://www.redeyebr.com/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover other available public pages before exploring further.

# Sweet snake of mine
- URL: https://www.redeyebr.com/sweet-snake-of-mine/
- Published: 2026-08-23T21:23:30.000Z
- Updated: 2026-08-23T21:23:30.000Z
- Description: An LSU biologist went hunting in the dark. He came back with a species that didn't have a name, so a colleague named it after one of her favorite rock stars.
- Author: Mukul Verma
- Tags: News, Last Call

For Chris Austin, an LSU biologist and curator of herpetology at LSU’s Museum of Natural Science, prowling the dark forests of New Guinea comes with an occupational hazard: the snakes he's after may spot him first.

Venomous ones are everywhere, the real threat now that cannibalism is just a story people tell about the place. Eating people fell out of fashion around the time Richard Nixon slunk out of office.

**The details:** Austin's dangerous night work turned up five specimens of a snake science had never cataloged, and a chance to honor one of rock's more reptile-friendly guitar heroes.

The new species is 28 inches of reddish-brown, non-venomous snake. Its name is *Lielaphis slashi*, for Slash, the former lead guitarist of Guns N' Roses. But the name didn't come from Austin. It came from a collaborator who loves reptiles and rock. 

Sara Ruane, who worked with Austin at LSU, was a Guns N' Roses kid who fell for reptiles before she hit her teens. She was 12 when she learned that Slash shared the obsession.

"So when I was twelve years old and got my copy of *Reptiles Magazine* in the mail and it had a picture of Slash holding his pet reticulated python on the cover, I thought, 'This guy is so cool.'"

**How they did it:** Finding a strange snake is only the opening act. Austin worked at his LSU lab with researchers at Chicago’s Field Museum, where Ruane is now a scientist, to prove the five specimens were an undocumented species.

- The team sequenced the snake's DNA with next-generation technology.
- It scrutinized the specimens' physical traits, the morphology, meaning form, shape and how a creature is put together.
- The genetics and the anatomy agreed.

**The bottom line:** Slash helped make “Welcome to the Jungle” unforgettable. Now, thanks to a team of snake-hunting scientists, his name will live on in a snake species.

****MESSAGe FROM rEDEYE** 

[![CTA Image](https://storage.ghost.io/c/c8/1d/c81d6c92-592f-461e-97d4-7573bc659b2b/content/images/2026/04/RedEye-logomark.png)](#/portal/account/plans) 

****RedEye watches public meetings.**  
So you can watch something better.  
  
RedEye turns three hours of motions, posturing and “brief remarks” into a few minutes of useful news. Support local journalism that respects your time. 

[Upgrade to Paid ](#/portal/account/plans) 

## Sign up for RedEye

Journalism to kickstart Baton Rouge

Subscribe 

Email sent! Check your inbox to complete your signup. 

No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.