Barbados Thread Snake

Prelims – Current events of National and International Importance | Bio-diversity

Why in news?

Recently, World’s smallest snake, Barbodas thread snake rediscovered under rock in central Barbados during ecological survey.

• Barbados thread snakes are rare, blind snakes.

• Scientific name - Tetracheilostoma carlae.
• Family – Leptotyphlopidae.
• Nomenclature – It is named after Carla Ann Hass, the wife of its discoverer, S. Blair Hedges (Herpetologist).
• Size - About 3 to 4 inches long (9 to 10 centimeters) when it is fully grown.
• Morphology - Pale orange dorsal lines running from its head to tail, a rostral scale on its nose and no gland lines on its head.

• Habitat - They inhabit beneath leaf litter, loose soil and limestone rubble in tropical dry forests.
• Distribution - Found on the Caribbean Island of Barbados.
• Adaptation - Its eyesight is reduced to light-sensing dots, an adaptation that saves energy in perpetual darkness.
• Resemblance - The thread snake closely resembles the Brahminy blind snake, or flowerpot snake.
• Reproduction - The Barbados thread snake reproduces sexually and females lay a clutch of only one egg.

The Brahminy blind snake is capable of parthenogenesis, which means that females are able to produce fertile eggs without mating.

• Diet - Termite and ant larvae.
• Conservation status - IUCN Red list – Critically Endangered.

References

1. The Hindu | Barbodas thread snake
2. Re:wild | Pale orange dorsal lines