Is Serpens Catus real? Snake Cat Amazon rainforest viral claim debunked

A viral picture of what is apparently being called, an Amazon snake cat or “Serpens Catus” has sent the internet into bafflement. The picture, shared on Twitter as well as TikTok, had people wondering if the snake cat really existed. However, the cat doesn't exist in reality.

The image shared on social media showed a regular-looking household cat with black and yellow body patterns, similar to the rear-fanged snake, Boiga. The user, @Kamara2R, who shared the image on Twitter, claimed that the "Serpens catus," snake cat, was the rarest species of feline to exist on earth.

The user also said that these animals live in regions of the Amazon rainforest that are hard to reach, which is why these creatures are relatively poorly studied. They added:

“The first images capturing the snake cat appeared only in the 2020. Weighs up the 4 stone.”

However, as mentioned earlier, the “Serpens cactus” does not exist in reality. There is no evidence supporting the existence of a cat with such vibrant yellow and black body patterns. People also realized that the photo shared by the user is skillfully edited or photoshopped.

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Netizens react to the viral image of snake cat

Unrealistic claims and hoaxes about nature and supposedly unknown creatures are not new to the internet. The Serpens catus is one such made-up creature that shocked people, making some wonder whether one such cat exists somewhere on Earth. While some debunked the tweet and the cat's existence, others had sarcastic reactions to the same.

Some social media users also pointed out that the feline in the viral photo is not real. A user also shared a picture of a boiga snake and said that the snake is now endemic to Southeast Asia. The user also pointed out that the rear-fanged venomous snake is a gold-ringed one.

While some appreciated the original user's Photoshop abilities, others mocked it and said that the cats could exist on other planets beyond our solar system.

Some users shared other photoshopped images of cats with rainbow-colored fur and said that the cat was similar to the snake cat, implying they are both fake.

A user also shared a picture of a fire salamander and said that the creature in the original now-viral tweet wasn't a snake cat but a "Fire Salamander Cat." They said that this species of salamander has similar bright yellow and black stripes or spots on its skin.

The same image of the cat was also shared on TikTok by user @Jenniffereyes. The cat in question has greenish-yellow eyes and a dark patch around its snout.

View on TikTok

Although some South American native cats can be found in the Amazon rainforest, the sighting of any breed of cat called “Serpens Catus” has never been reported. There are no other species of feline that even remotely resembles “Serpens catus," thus making the whole thing a fake species that doesn't exist.