Snake shows its colours
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Researchers from Germany and the US discovered the water snake's chameleon-like behaviour by accident when they put it into a dark bucket.
The environmental group WWF, which supports conservation work in Borneo, says wildlife in the region is threatened by deforestation.
It believes the newly described snake may exist only in one river basin.
Found in the Kapuas river in the Betung Kerihun National Park in Kalimantan (the Indonesian portion of Borneo), it belongs to the Enhydris genus of rear-fanged water snakes and has been named E. gyii.
It is about 50cm (18 inches) long, and venomous.
Bucket research
The discovery of the 'chameleon" snake exposes one of nature's best kept secrets deep in the heart of Borneo
Stuart Chapman, WWF
It was Dr Auliya, a consultant for WWF, who discovered serendipitously its colour-changing capacity.
"I put the reddish-brown snake in a dark bucket," he said. "When I retrieved it a few minutes later, it was almost entirely white."
The reasons why it has evolved this attribute are unclear. The chameleon, possibly the animal kingdom's most famous colour-changer, is believed to alter its hue depending on mood and temperature.
In the last 10 years, more than 350 new animal and plant species have been discovered on Borneo.
"The discovery of the 'chameleon' snake exposes one of nature's best kept secrets deep in the heart of Borneo," said Stuart Chapman, WWF's international coordinator for the island.
The environmental group warns that the home of the new snake is threatened, as Borneo's forest cover has declined from 75% in the mid-1980s to about 50% today.
Scientists from the United States and Germany have discovered a new species of snake capable of changing it's colours, in the Betung Kerihun National Park on the island of Borneo.

Researchers Mark Auliya from the ''Zoologisches Forschungsmuseum Alexander Koenig'' in Bonn and a consultant for the ''World Wildlife Federation''(WWF), and John Murphy and Harold Voris from the ''Field Museum of Natural History'' in Chicago were collecting specimens from the wetlands of the Kapuas river when they stumbled upon the snake's colour changing ability.

"I put the reddish-brown snake in a dark bucket," Auliya explained. "When I retrieved it a few minutes later, it was almost entirely white."

The ability to change colour is known from some reptiles, famously the chameleon, but scientists have seen it very rarely with snakes and are yet to understand the phenomenon. In chameleons, colour change is an expression of it's physiological condition. Skin color is also influenced by light and temperature.

The two snakes, initially brown with an iridescent sheen, are about a half metre long and venomous. The scientists named them the 'Kapus-Mud-Snake'. 

They are believed to belong to the ''Enhydris'' genus, which is composed of 22 species of rear-fanged water snakes, only two of which are widespread. The scientists believe this newly discovered snake might only occur in the Kapuas river drainage system.

"The discovery of the "chameleon" snake exposes one of nature's best kept secrets deep in the Heart of Borneo." Said Stuart Chapman, WWF's international coordinator of the Heart of Borneo Programme. "Its ability to change colour has kept it hidden from science until now." 

In the last ten years 361 new animal and plants species have been discovered on the island of Borneo, however, WWF says wildlife in the region is threatened by deforestation. Today, only half of Borneo's forest cover remains, down from 75 per cent in the mid 1980s.

There is hope, however, that this trend can be halted. Brunei Darussalam, Indonesia and Malaysia - the three governments which hold jurisdiction over Borneo - recently launched the Heart of Borneo initiative. This aims to preserve approximately 220,000km2 of equatorial forests and numerous wildlife species.