World’s smallest snake rediscovered in Barbados 20 years after last sighting | Snakes

The smallest snake in the world was rediscovered at Barbados, 20 years after its last observation.

The Barbados Threadsnake, which had been extinguished, was rediscovered under a rock at the center of the island during an ecological survey in March by the Ministry of the Environment and the Reservation of Conservation Re: Wild.

The reptile can reach up to 10 cm in length when it is completely cultivated and is as thin as a touch of spaghetti. He appeared on a global list of 4,800 plants, animals and species of fungi that have been lost in science.

The rarity of the snake is a concern for scientists. Connor Blades, head of the project of the Ministry of the Environment, said: “If the population of Threadsnake is not very dense, I worry about their ability to find partners, especially if their habitat is threatened and degraded.”

Blades and Justin Springer, the RE Caribbean program officer: Wild, sought the wire and several other antimic reptiles for more than a year as part of a conservation project.

During the investigation in March, Springer said that he joked Blade: “I feel a tread”, while turning a rock trapped under a tree root. And that was there.

“When you are so used to looking for things and you don’t see them, you are shocked when you find it,” said Springer.

Blades took the snake to the University of the Antilles where the examination under the microscope revealed the pale orange lines crossing his body and the ladder on his nose which confirmed that it was what they were looking for.

The first observation of the Barbados Threadsnake took place in 1889, and there was only a handful of confirmed observations since.

The treadsnake reproduces sexually and females lay only one egg at the same time, unlike certain other reptiles which can produce fertile eggs without mating.

With 98% of the island’s forest having been authorized for agriculture since it was colonized over 500 years ago, environmentalists have been concerned with the extinction of the reptile of the destruction of habitat and invasive species.

“The rediscovery of Threadsnake is also a call to all of us as Barbadians that the Barbados forests are very special and need protection,” said Springer. “Not only for the Treatsnake, but also for other species. For plants, animals and our inheritance.”