DATE2025.05.26 #Press Releases

Citizen Science Reveals Color Pattern Diversity in the Japanese Natricine Snake

— An Archipelagic Scale Survey by Four Researchers and 160 Citizens —

Summary

Dr. Takuya Hosoki, a JSPS Research Fellow at Field Science Centre for Northern Biosphere, Hokkaido University; Dr. Masaya Fukuda, a formerly doctoral student at the Graduate School of Science, Kyoto University (currently a research administrator at Kyoto University); Dr. Kohta Kubo, a project researcher at the Department of Earth and Planetary Science, Graduate School of Science, the University of Tokyo; Ms. Fumie Fukuda, an independent scholar; and 160 citizens uncovered the cryptic color polymorphism in the Japanese natricine snake (Rhabdophis tigrinus). The research team discovered remarkable diversity in color polymorphism across a wide geographic range—from the Shimokita Peninsula in Aomori Prefecture to Yakushima Island in Kagoshima Prefecture.

Life in nature is extraordinarily diverse. While scientists have long sought to describe this diversity and understand how it arises, is maintained, and collapses, we are still faced with a vast undocumented diversity. The team launched a citizen science project—a powerful approach that fosters collaboration between scientists and citizens—to investigate the archipelagic diversity of animals in Japan. Here, the team established an image database of the Japanese natricine snake, a familiar species to Japanese people, collected from 160 citizens and four researchers. Contrary to the previously described 6 morphs in the Japanese natricine snake, the citizen science data revealed the vast diversity, consisting of 123 color pattern combinations across the Japanese Archipelago. This data further suggested a relationship between color pattern and habitat temperature, providing a working hypothesis for future studies on the anti-predatory role of color patterns.

This research highlights citizen science as a powerful tool to study biodiversity on an archipelagic scale.

The results of this study were published online on Monday, May 19, 2025, in the Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society, published by the Linnean Society of London.

Figure: Overview of the study

Related Links

Hokkaido University, Kyoto University

Published Journals

Journal name	Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society
Title of paper	Community science data highlight the vast color pattern variations in the Japanese natricine snake (Rhabdophis tigrinus)