World's Smallest Snake Discovered Under a Rock

A biologist has discovered what is believed to be the smallest snake species on record. It averages 10 cm in length and is about as thin as a strand of spaghetti. It has been found on the Caribbean island of Barbados.

The man to find the species is Dr. Blair Hedges, an American biologist. He describes his delight at overturning a rock and stumbling upon the species. He proceeded to overturn hundreds of other stones in the threatened forest but was only able to find a total of two representatives of the species.

Hedges believes the snake is a part of the family of thread worms. He thinks it is endemic to Barbados and survives by eating termites. The female lays one massive egg at a time and the baby that arises is half the size of the final adult.

Heges is wary of the difficulty of defining the features of such a tiny species but is confident that modern DNA screening techniques will allow researchers to compare the discovery to other snakes.