Aug 6, 2008

The World's Smallest Snake


Take a look at the creature on the picture above. This is Leptotyphlops carlae, the World's Smallest Snake. It is just about 10 centimeters long (less than 4 inches) and could easily be mistaken for an ordinary earthworm. It has been discovered by biologist Blair Hedges of Penn State University, on the Caribbean island of Barbados.

A second new species, only slightly larger, was also found on the neighboring island of St. Lucia. Proper genetic tests and studies of the snakes' physical features identified the animals as new species. Both these new species belong to a little-known group of known as thread snakes or worm snakes or slender blind snakes.

According to the Blair Hedges, this little snake species may be on the verge of extinction, as all the original forests have been cleared from the area where it was found.

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