The Barbados threadsnake (''Tetracheilostoma carlae'') is a

species A species () is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate sexes or mating types can produce fertile offspring, typically by sexual reproduction. It is the basic unit of Taxonomy (biology), ...

of threadsnake. It is the smallest known

snake Snakes are elongated limbless reptiles of the suborder Serpentes (). Cladistically squamates, snakes are ectothermic, amniote vertebrates covered in overlapping scales much like other members of the group. Many species of snakes have s ...

species. This member of the Leptotyphlopidae

family Family (from ) is a Social group, group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or Affinity (law), affinity (by marriage or other relationship). It forms the basis for social order. Ideally, families offer predictabili ...

is found on the

Caribbean The Caribbean ( , ; ; ; ) is a region in the middle of the Americas centered around the Caribbean Sea in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, mostly overlapping with the West Indies. Bordered by North America to the north, Central America ...

islands of

Barbados Barbados, officially the Republic of Barbados, is an island country in the Atlantic Ocean. It is part of the Lesser Antilles of the West Indies and the easternmost island of the Caribbean region. It lies on the boundary of the South American ...

and

Anguilla Anguilla is a British Overseas Territories, British Overseas Territory in the Caribbean. It is one of the most northerly of the Leeward Islands in the Lesser Antilles, lying east of Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands and directly north of Sa ...

Taxonomy and etymology

The Barbados threadsnake was first identified as a separate species in 2008 by S. Blair Hedges, a

herpetologist Herpetology (from Ancient Greek ἑρπετόν ''herpetón'', meaning "reptile" or "creeping animal") is a branch of zoology concerned with the study of amphibians (including frogs, salamanders, and caecilians (Gymnophiona)) and reptiles (in ...

from

Pennsylvania State University The Pennsylvania State University (Penn State or PSU) is a Public university, public Commonwealth System of Higher Education, state-related Land-grant university, land-grant research university with campuses and facilities throughout Pennsyl ...

.Dunham, Will. ''Reuters UK'' (3 August 2008). (See: ¶ 5) Hedges named the new species of snake in honor of his wife, Carla Ann Hass, a

who was part of the discovery team. Specimens already existed in reference collections in the London

Natural History Museum A natural history museum or museum of natural history is a scientific institution with natural history scientific collection, collections that include current and historical records of animals, plants, Fungus, fungi, ecosystems, geology, paleo ...

and in a museum in California, but they had been incorrectly identified to belong to another species. At the time of publication, August 2008, ''T. carlae'' was described as the snake species with the smallest adults in the world. The first scientific specimens taken by the research team were found under rocks in a forest. The snake is thought to be near the lower size limit for snakes, as young snakes need to attain a certain minimum size to find suitable food.

Description

The average total length (including tail) of ''T. carlae'' adults is approximately 10 cm (3.94 inches), with the largest specimen found to date measuring 10.4 cm (4.09 inches) in total length. The snake is said by Hedges to be "about as wide as a

spaghetti Spaghetti () is a long, thin, solid, cylindrical pasta.spaghetti
Dictionary.com. Dictionary.com Una ...

noodle." The photograph above shows ''L. carlae'' on a quarter dollar, a coin with a

diameter In geometry, a diameter of a circle is any straight line segment that passes through the centre of the circle and whose endpoints lie on the circle. It can also be defined as the longest Chord (geometry), chord of the circle. Both definitions a ...

of 24.26 mm (0.955 inches). The specimen weighed 0.6 grams.

Diet

''T. carlae'' is thought to feed primarily on a diet of

termites Termites are a group of detritophagous eusocial cockroaches which consume a variety of decaying plant material, generally in the form of wood, leaf litter, and soil humus. They are distinguished by their moniliform antennae and the sof ...

and

ant Ants are Eusociality, eusocial insects of the Family (biology), family Formicidae and, along with the related wasps and bees, belong to the Taxonomy (biology), order Hymenoptera. Ants evolved from Vespoidea, vespoid wasp ancestors in the Cre ...

larva A larva (; : larvae ) is a distinct juvenile form many animals undergo before metamorphosis into their next life stage. Animals with indirect development such as insects, some arachnids, amphibians, or cnidarians typically have a larval phase ...

Reproduction

Threadsnakes (Leptotyphlopidae) are

oviparous Oviparous animals are animals that reproduce by depositing fertilized zygotes outside the body (i.e., by laying or spawning) in metabolically independent incubation organs known as eggs, which nurture the embryo into moving offsprings kno ...

, laying eggs to reproduce. The female of this snake species, ''T. carlae'', produces only one large egg at a time. The emerging offspring is about half the length of the mother. Small species of snakes such as ''T. carlae'' have relatively large new-born offspring compared to adults. The offspring of the largest snakes are only one-tenth the length of an adult, whereas offspring of the smallest snakes typically are one-half the length of an adult (see figure). The tiny snakes produce only one, massive egg – relative to the size of the mother.

Conservation status

Little is known about the ecology, abundance, or distribution of this species, ''T. carlae''. Essentially, Barbados has no original forest remaining, however, this native species very likely requires a forest habitat for survival since it evolved in the presence of forests. Based on the small number of known specimens and its distribution apparently being restricted to eastern Barbados, the continued survival of the species is a concern.

References

External links

*. {{Taxonbar, from=Q310908 Leptotyphlopidae Reptiles described in 2008 Taxa named by Stephen Blair Hedges Snakes of the Caribbean Reptiles of Barbados Endemic fauna of Barbados Tetracheilostoma