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.
Barbados is a small island nation is situated in the Caribbean region of the America.
- 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
- The Hindu | Barbodas thread snake
- Re:wild | Pale orange dorsal lines
