Smallest known snake

By Susan Milius
Science News: Web edition : Sunday, August 3rd, 2008

New miniature threadsnake discovered in Barbados

MICRO-SNAKE! A newly named species from Barbados could be the world’s smallest kind of snake. [Full Story] (If the full story in Science News is not available to you try Googling Leptotyphlops carlae.)

A newly named species from Barbados could be the world’s smallest kind of snake. Adults of the new threadsnake average only 100 millimeters long (not quite 4 inches), says evolutionary biologist Blair Hedges of Pennsylvania State University in University Park. Hedges is naming it Leptotyphlops carlae in honor of his wife, Carla Ann Hass, he says in the formal description published online in Zootaxa.

The snake’s eye-to-tail stripes, narrow head, scale pattern and some of its DNA segments mark it as a species new to science, Hedges says.

Islands are often homes for very large or very small species. Some lineages on continents never make it out to islands, so island dwellers have opportunities to fill niches they wouldn’t on the mainland. Hence, when searching for an unusual form of an animal, such as minis or giants, islands make good places to start looking.

Over his career, Hedges has codescribed other extreme herps: A frog smaller than a dime and the smallest known lizard. Each came from an island.

Additional research
1. Why would an island be a place where unusual species might be found?

2. What unique species are found on Madagascar?

3. What other islands are home to unique species of plants and animals?

4. What island chain did Darwin study while serving as Naturalist on the HMS Beagle from 1831- 1836. Why is this important to Biological Science?