Connor Blades, a project officer with the Ministry of Environment in Barbados, had been searching for the snake for over a year.

On the morning of March 20, while helping a team survey a rare jack-in-the-box tree in central Barbados, Blades lifted a rock and saw something wriggling. What he saw looked like a small, dark thread with pale yellow lines. It was the rediscovery of Tetracheilostoma carlae, the Barbados threadsnake.

So small, it’s easy to miss

The Barbados threadsnake is so tiny it can easily rest on a coin. Fully grown, it measures just about four inches long. It is blind, burrows underground, and survives on a diet of ants and termites. It lays only one slender egg at a time. Its small size and secretive behavior make it incredibly hard to find, even for trained researchers.

“They’re very cryptic,” Blades explained. “You can do a survey for a number of hours, and even if they are there, you may actually not see them.”

The Barbados threadsnake, feared extinct, was rediscovered after 20 years during a survey, highlighting urgent conservation needs for its habitat.

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The world’s smallest snake, the Barbados threadsnake, has made a surprising comeback 20 years after its last sighting. Rediscovered during an ecological survey in March 2025-07-24 16:40:00, this tiny reptile was feared extinct.

6 Key Takeaways World’s smallest snake rediscovered in Barbados

Barbados threadsnake feared extinct for 20 years

Snake measures up to 10cm in length

Habitat destruction threatens snake’s survival

Rediscovery highlights need for forest protection

Threadsnake lays only one egg at a time

Measuring just 10 cm in length and as thin as a strand of spaghetti, the threadsnake was found under a rock by conservationists from Re:wild and the Barbadian environment ministry. Its rarity raises concerns about its survival, especially given the ongoing threats to its habitat.

Fast Answer: The rediscovery of the Barbados threadsnake highlights the urgent need for global conservation efforts to protect endangered species and their habitats.

This remarkable find prompts US to consider the fragility of biodiversity. How many other species are teetering on the brink of extinction? The situation emphasizes the importance of conservation initiatives.

The Barbados threadsnake had not been seen for two decades.

Only a handful of confirmed sightings exist since its first discovery in 1889.

98% of the island’s forests have been cleared, threatening its habitat.

The plight of the Barbados threadsnake serves as a stark reminder of the global biodiversity crisis and the urgent need for conservation.

As we celebrate this rediscovery, let’s advocate for stronger protections for not just the threadsnake, but all endangered species. Every effort counts in preserving our planet’s rich biodiversity.

The world’s smallest snake has been rediscovered in Barbados, 20 years after its last sighting.

The Barbados threadsnake, which had been feared extinct, was rediscovered under a rock in the centre of the island during an ecological survey in March by the environment ministry and the conservation organisation Re:wild.

The reptile can reach up to 10cm in length when it is fully grown and is as thin as a strand of spaghetti. It had been on a global list of 4,800 plants, animals and fungi species that have been lost to science.

The rarity of the snake is a concern for scientists. Connor Blades, a project officer for the environment ministry, said: “If the threadsnake population is not very dense, I am worried about their ability to find mates, particularly if their habitat is under threat and being degraded.”

Blades and Justin Springer, the Caribbean programme officer at Re:wild, had been looking for the threadsnake and several other endemic reptiles for more than a year as part of a conservation project.

During the survey in March, Springer said he jokingly told Blade: “I smell a threadsnake,” while turning over a rock trapped under a tree root. And there it was.

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

View image in fullscreen Springer and Blade were delighted to rediscover the creature. Photograph: Connor Blades

Blades took the snake to the University of the West Indies where examination under a microscope revealed the pale orange lines running across its body and the scale on its nose that confirmed it was what they were looking for.

The first sighting of the Barbados threadsnake was in 1889, and there have only been a handful of confirmed sightings since.

The threadsnake reproduces sexually and the females lay only one egg at a time, unlike some other reptiles that can produce fertile eggs without mating.

With 98% of the island’s forest having been cleared for agriculture since it was colonised more than 500 years ago, conservationists are concerned for the reptile’s extinction from habitat destruction and invasive species.

“The threadsnake’s rediscovery is also a call to all of us as Barbadians that forests in Barbados are very special and need protection,” said Springer. “Not just for the threadsnake, but for other species as well. For plants, animals and our heritage.”

After nearly two decades the world’s tiniest snake has been rediscovered.

The Barbados threadsnake was previously featured on a list of 4,800 plant, animal and fungi species described as “lost to science” – having last been seen in 2006.

The tiny reptile is blind, burrows in the ground, eats termites and ants and lays one single, slender egg. Fully grown it only measures up to four inches.

Due to the lengthy time without being seen, scientists previously feared the Barbados threadsnake had become extinct. It has only been seen a handful of times since 1889.

But those fear were allayed by Connor Blades, a project officer with the Ministry of Environment in Barbados, one morning in March this year, while out searching a tiny forest in the eastern Caribbean island.

A Barbados threadsnake was found by scientist Connor Blades earlier this year, having not been seen for nearly 20 years and feared extinct (Connor Blades/Re:wild via AP)

“After a year of searching, you begin to get a little pessimistic,” Blades said.

The snake is too tiny to identify with the naked eye, and can fit comfortably on a coin. Blades placed the reptile in a small glass jar and added soil, substrate and leaf litter before heading to a lab to double check his find.

“It was a struggle,” Blades said, adding that he shot a video of the snake and finally identified it thanks to a still image. “I tried to keep a level head.”

The Barbados threadsnake – which has pale yellow dorsal lines running through its body, and eyes located on the side of its head – may often be confused for a Brahminy blind snake, also known as the flower pot snake, which is a bit longer and has no dorsal lines.

The Re:wild conservation group, which is collaborating with the local environment ministry, announced the rediscovery of the Barbados threadsnake Wednesday.

The tiny reptile is blind, burrows in the ground, eats termites and ants and lays one single, slender egg. Fully grown it only measures up to four inches (Connor Blades)

The Barbados threadsnake – which has pale yellow dorsal lines running through its body, and eyes located on the side of its head – may often be confused for a Brahminy blind snake, also known as the flower pot snake (Connor Blades)

“Rediscovering one of our endemics on many levels is significant,” said Justin Springer, Caribbean program officer for Re:wild who helped rediscover the snake along with Blades.

“It reminds us that we still have something important left that plays an important role in our ecosystem.”

“They’re very cryptic,” Blades added. “You can do a survey for a number of hours, and even if they are there, you may actually not see them.”

The first person to identify the Barbados threadsnake as its own species was S. Blair Hedges, a professor at Temple University and director of its center for biology. In 2008, Hedges’ discovery was published in a scientific journal, with the snake named Tetracheilostoma carlae, in honor of his wife.

“I spent days searching for them,” Hedges recalled. “Based on my observations and the hundreds of rocks, objects that I turned over looking for this thing without success, I do think it is a rare species.”

At that time, in June 2006, there were only three other such specimens known at the time: two at a London museum and a third at a museum collection in California that was wrongly identified as being from Antigua instead of Barbados, Hedges said.

Hedges said he didn’t realize he had collected a new species until he did a genetic analysis. “The aha moment was in the laboratory,” he said, noting that the discovery established the Barbados threadsnake as the world’s smallest-known snake.

Scientists hope the rediscovery means that the Barbados threadsnake could become a champion for the protection of wildlife habitat.

The scientists rediscovered a “lost species” of serpent that is so small that it makes a coin seem huge.

A Barbados Serpent (Tetracheilostoma carlae), the smallest snake in the world, was rediscovered under a rock in the center of Barbados during an ecological study in March, according to.

The Barbados Serpent was Lost for science for 20 yearswhich earned him a place in a global list of 4800 lost species of plants, animals and fungi compiled by Re: Wild’s Search for Lost Species.

The Ministry of Environment and Beautification of Barbados has been looking for the snake for over a year, under the Conserving Barbados project ‘Endemic Reptiles, when the discovery was made.

Measuring only 9 to 10 centimeters long in adult size, is in fact a mini snake.

Previous sightings were separated for tens of years and even more complicated by the fact that Cobra-de-Rosca-de-Barbados resembles a lot to Breen Snakean invasive species that was only recently introduced in Barbados.

The differences are so subtle that Scientists need a magnifying glass To distinguish them and, given their small dimension, it is easy to lose the trail to this species.

Now, you did your triumphant return with some stunning photographs. Proof that, although the world advances, Barbados’s snake remains so Adorably small as always.

So how hard it is to look for such a small serpent? “In my view, it is more likely that the larger animals have been seen than the little ones, so if a larger animal goes unnoticed for time enough to be considered ‘lost’, then, in my head, there is less hope that it is still there,” he said Connor BladesTechnical Project Consultant of the Ministry of Environment and National Beautification.

“A smaller animal certainly at the scale scale is already difficult to find. Its disappearance may be less likely because it has disappeared, and more likely because they are very critical or because there are fewer people looking.”

It seems that size can be more significant in terms of how difficult it is to learn something about them, now that they have been found again. It seems that its size can be more significant in terms of how difficult it is to learn something about them now that they have been found again.

“Because they are so small, They are very difficult to study without causing damageso there is still a lot that we don’t know about your preference for habitat or demographics that could help with conservation or planning, ”added Blades.

“ size also makes identification difficultespecially since we have another kind of similar look, the Brahminy Snake on the island, which complicates the assistance of the citizen or reports onlinebecause the identification of these animals should be done personally by experts to ensure reliability. ”

Justin SpringerResponsible for Re: Wild’s Caribbean Program, he said he thinks “a very interesting thing about the snake family (Leptotyphlopidae) of which the snake is part is that, although we know that they eat ants and thermal, they live in thermal nests and free secretions that basically deceive thermal so that they do not attack them-this is very fixed. ”

“There is still much to discover and learn about Barbados’s snake, which also makes intriguing and encourages us to protect it“.

“In Barbados and most of the Caribbean, there is a widespread fear of the snakes and, unfortunately, our endemic Viper and Barbados (Erythrolamprus perfuscus) It was declared extinct for some time.

I think this rediscovery is important to highlight the importance What we have left and also to show that these very small, delicate and harmless snakes are important and need protection. ”

Another argument for your protection is the species lineagebelonging to a group of snakes that diverged very early, known as Scolecophidians.

Are known from fossils dating from the Cretaceous, but are probably original from the Jurassicsince they have a global distribution that suggests that they were once in the supercontinent Gunnaani. When he separated, he took the small snakes and Blades with him that it is likely that the snake has come to bearded from somewhere in the Americas.