Scientist: World's smallest snake in Barbados

[XemaSab]

A U.S. scientist said Sunday he has discovered the globe's tiniest species of snake in the easternmost Caribbean island of Barbados, with full-grown adults typically stretching less than 4 inches (10 centimeters) long.

S. Blair Hedges, an evolutionary biologist at Penn State University whose research teams also have discovered the world's tiniest lizard in the Dominican Republic and the smallest frog in Cuba, said the snake was found slithering beneath a rock near a patch of Barbadian forest.

Hedges said the tiny-title-holding snake, which is so diminutive it can curl up on a U.S. quarter, is the smallest of the roughly 3,100 known snake species. It will be introduced to the scientific world in the journal "Zootaxa" on Monday.

"New and interesting species are still being discovered on Caribbean islands, despite the very small amount of natural forests remaining," said Hedges, who christened the miniature brown snake "Leptotyphlops carlae" after his herpetologist wife, Carla Ann Hass.

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2008/08/03/international/i134315D48.DTL

[Loudmxr]

1. I can't resist.

There's a job for that guy in the CAA mail room.(local showbiz joke) :smoke:

[BlooInBloo]

2. It was on NPR last night.

[JohnyCanuck]

3. Maybe it's just a baby snake that hasn't grown up yet

:)

[yy4me]

4. Can't help but ask, "please leave it there"

I am petrified of snakes, even looking at a picture of one. I can imagine some scientific genius importing these tiny things in order to combat the slug population or some such wonderful idea. A generation later we are overrun with tiny snakes. Leave these things where nature put them.

[stuntcat]

5. I think it's darling!

:loveya: :loveya: I heard about it on NPR early this morning.
But at the end of the report they said something about the specimen being kept in alcohol or something, that made me sad.

[DCKit]

7. This is the Northern Ringneck snake of VA. Most I've seen are no more than 10" long.

[hunter]

6. What an amazing animal!

I'd love to see one in person, but no, I'm not going to blow out a bunch of carbon dioxide flying to Barbados just to do that... I guess what I really want is a large sailboat, a hefty trust fund, and the time to wander.